New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday lashed out against Uttarakhand BJP president Mahendra Bhatt for defending the ‘shuddhikaran’ or purification ceremony allegedly held at the Haldwani venue where AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge had addressed a rally, PTI reported.
The opposition party asked whether the BJP would initiate action against Bhatt for openly defending what it described as a form of untouchability.
Bhatt is reported to have dismissed the criticism surrounding the ritual, claiming that the venue had been “polluted” by slogans that were inappropriate for a religious place.
Sharing a video of the BJP leader’s remarks, Congress media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said BJP president J P Nadda’s earlier description of the incident as “unfortunate” did not change the reality.
“It does not matter that Nadda Ji described the shuddhikaran in Haldwani after Kharge Ji’s rally as ‘unfortunate’. The truth is that discrimination flows through the veins of the RSS-BJP like blood,” Khera said.
He alleged that the Uttarakhand BJP chief had now openly sought to justify the purification ceremony.
“In the 21st century, Dalits are still subjected to such dehumanising practices. That itself is a tragedy. But if this can happen to the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and one of the tallest Dalit leaders in the country, (it) elucidates how far worse the everyday reality must be for ordinary Dalits,” the Congress leader said.
Khera also questioned whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP leadership would act against Bhatt.
“Now that its own state president has openly defended untouchability, will the party act against him? Will Modi remove him? If not, then Modi’s grand appeals of unity and respect for Dalits are nothing but another political performance,” he said.
Shrinate Calls It BJP’s ‘Real Face’
Congress spokesperson and social media department head Supriya Shrinate separately posted the video clip of Bhatt’s remarks on X.
“This is Uttarakhand BJP President Mahendra Bhatt. He is justifying the purification ritual that took place after Congress President Kharge ji’s rally in Haldwani,” she said.
“This is the real BJP — this is the hatred in their hearts towards Dalits. Everything else is mere lip service,” Shrinate added.
The Congress Working Committee had last week strongly condemned the alleged purification of the rally venue in Haldwani and described the episode as completely unacceptable.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh had also questioned the Prime Minister’s silence and said the CWC wanted Modi to apologise over the incident.
Kharge had earlier accused the BJP of being “anti-religion” while referring to the alleged ritual conducted after his address. He also criticised what he called the ruling party’s selective approach towards religious values.
“You (BJP) are anti-religion because when a person like me goes to Uttarakhand and gives a speech in front of lakhs of people, two days later you conduct a purification ceremony,” Kharge had said.
The alleged purification was held at Ramlila Maidan in Haldwani, where Kharge addressed a public gathering on August 8.
Uttarakhand Congress president Ganesh Godiyal has claimed that the Shri Ram Sena, which carried out the ritual, had links with the BJP. The ruling party has strongly rejected the allegation.