RSS denies hiring law firm to lobby for it in America

STATEMENTS REVIEWED INDEPENDENTLY BY HT REVEAL THAT SQUIRE PATTON BOGGS WAS PAID $330,000 THIS YEAR BY ONE+ ADVISERS, ANOTHER LOBBYING FIRM, ON BEHALF OF RSS

- Shashank Mattoo

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Thursday denied hiring a lobbying firm in the US, after a report in nonprofit news website Prism said that it had indirectly hired one.

“Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh works in Bharat and has not engaged any lobbying firm in United States of America,” RSS leader Sunil Ambekar said ina post on X.

To be sure, lobbying disclosure statements reviewed independently by Hindustan Times reveal that Squire Patton Boggs was paid $330,000 this year by One+ Advisers, another lobbying firm, on behalf of the RSS. The firm was contracted to “introduce the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh” to US officials.

One+ Advisers and Squire Patton Boggs were yet to respond to HT’s request for a comment.

Elite law firm Squire Patton Boggs also lobbies for Pakistan.

To be sure, while the documents mention the client as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, it is not clear who hired the lobbying firm.

Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh reacted to the report and claimed “this is not the first time that the RSS.... has betrayed national interest.”