The live telecast of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s address in Nagpur by Doordarshan today stoked a controversy with opposition slamming the government for “misusing” the state broadcaster while BJP defended it.

Congress spokesman Sandeep Dikshit termed the hour-long telecast as a “dangerous tradition”, saying RSS is a controversial religious and political organisation.

“It is a dangerous tradition. This is not an organisation which is completely neutral. It is a controversial organisation,” he said, adding it is a political decision of the government.

His party colleague Abhishek Manu Singhvi feared that from now on, the country would be ruled through the official media “for Nagpur, by Nagpur and of Nagpur”.