Ved Pratap Vaidik denies Rahul Gandhi`s charge, says he has never been an RSS man

Amidst the controversies he stirred by meeting 26/11 attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed and opining that Kashmir should be an independent nation, yoga guru Ramdev`s close aide and senior journalist Ved Pratap Vaidik denied being “an RSS man”.

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Amidst the controversies he stirred by meeting 26/11 attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed and opining that Kashmir should be an independent nation, yoga guru Ramdev`s close aide and senior journalist Ved Pratap Vaidik on Tuesday denied being “an RSS man”. “I have never been an RSS man. Let (Congress vice president) Rahul Gandhi say what he wants,” said Vaidik. He further cleared that he met Hafiz Saeed through another Pakistani journalist and as a journalist. Slamming Congress for “making a fool of themselves”, Vaidik told a news agency that he cannot believe the nation was in this party`s hands for last 10 years. He further said that he felt bad about this furore because he has “worked with Congress, they`re my people.” “I have been travelling to foreign nations for the past 40 years. Does embassy facilitate all those travels? I meet everyone directly,” cleared Vaidik. When asked if he would file a defamation case against Rahul Gandhi, Vaidik said he won`t do it as he was just an ordinary man. The journalist further accused the TV channels of distorting his statements. “What I`ve done for nation for 40 years is being marred by all these allegations,” added Vaidik. Earlier in the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the party was "curious" to know whether the meeting between Vaidik and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed was facilitated by the Indian embassy in Pakistan. "The question is whether the Indian embassy in Pakistan facilitated this event...whether they helped this gentleman (Vaidik) in anyway," Rahul Gandhi said, speaking to reporters here. He also described Vaidik as a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) man, which he said was a "known fact". The 69-year-old Vaidik`s meeting with Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan has sparked off a major row with the Congress seeking to pin down the Narendra Modi government by asking if he was sent as an emissary even as the ruling BJP has distanced itself from the meeting, asserting Saeed was a "terrorist".