Mysuru, Aug 24 (IANS): The ruling BJP and opposition Congress are at loggerheads over a statement issued by the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) executive chairman R. Dhruvanarayana that "RSS is the real version of Taliban". BJP has announced that the party workers will flash black flags at all the public functions he attends, if he fails to tender an apology for his statement.

Dhruvanarayana, a senior Congress Dalit leader, former MP and close confidante of the Opposition leader Siddaramaiah straightaway rejected the demand and has said he will stand by his words. This might lead to confrontation between the BJP and Congress workers in the Mysuru region.

Dhruvanarayana justified his statement of equating Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to the Taliban and said he meant his words and stands by his statement in this regard on Monday.

"RSS and Taliban work on the premise of religion. There are striking similarities between both organisations. On this foundation, I have equated RSS to Taliban," he said.

"Both RSS and Taliban are proponents of religion. They don't commit to secularism. RSS worker Nathuram Godse shot and killed Mahatma Gandhi. During that time, Home Minister Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel had imposed a ban on RSS," he continued his attack.

"RSS does not believe in democracy. It propagates religion and 'manuvaad' to nurse a hierarchical society. Taliban keeps women away and the RSS also does the same," Dhruvanarayana said.

Furious BJP Yuva Morcha workers did a flash protest in front of Dhruvanarayana's office. When they tried to lay siege to his office, police took them to custody and released them afterwards on Monday evening.

BJP MLA L. Nagendra and Mysuru City President T.S. Sreevatsa have warned that if Dhruvanarayana fails to take back his statement, he will face black flags and stiff protests.

In response to this, Congress leaders staged a protest near Mysuru Zilla Panchayat office premises supporting the statement of Dhruvanarayana on equating the RSS to Taliban.