Congress refutes RSS’s claims about RSS veteran worker vacating bed for youth in Nagpur

The Congress has hit out at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging that the organisations used the death of a veteran worker for image building

The Congress has hit out at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging that the organisations used the death of a veteran worker for image building. Referring to the information related to the death of octogenarian Narayan Dabhadkar revealed under the Right To Information (RTI) Act, Maharashtra Congress’s general secretary and spokesperson Sachin Sawant said BJP-RSS spread wrong information.

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As per reports, Dabhadkar, who died of Covid-19 at the age of 85 years in Nagpur in April this year, had offered his hospital bed to a younger patient who was struggling to get admitted for the want of vacant bed. A post stating that Dabhakar, an RSS worker, sacrificed his life to save a youngster by offering his bed to him made rounds on social media platforms.

Bed scarcity was at its peak in Nagpur as well as other parts of the state during the second wave of Covid-19 in April and May.

Indira Gandhi Hospital, where Dabhadkar was admitted, clarified that he was discharged from the hospital when his relatives insisted on taking him to another hospital since they did not have ventilator at the hospital, said Sawant. The information provided by the hospital stated that the patient and his relatives insisted on discharge against medical advice (DAMA) and took him home. Dabhadkar and his son-in-law Amol Pachpor had given an undertaking to the hospital management, the information has revealed.

Sawant tweeted the information while attacking the RSS and said that many BJP leaders including Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had promoted the story on social media.

“The information and hospital documents including letters given by the patient and his relatives have come to fore under RTI. It proves that RSS’s claim of sacrifice was wrong. Our full sympathy and respect is with the departed, but dragging the deceased worker in politics is unfortunate,” Sawant said.

BJP’s media cell chief Vishwas Pathak said, “What is the Congress trying to prove by raising questions on the act of an octogenarian RSS worker? The whole world knows about the training imparted in shakhas (run by the RSS), towards selflessness and sacrifice. Documents (revealed under RTI) speak of the legal and administrative procedure needs to be followed while taking discharge. It is possible that Dabhadkar completed the formalities to achieve what he intended to do. How can one expect his intention behind the act to come there on the records? His discussion with his son-in-law and other family members cannot be part of the hospital records, but it is important to bring the truth behind the story forward.”