Haridwar (Uttarakhand) [India], August 14 : Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday has denied Congress allegations that people associated with BJP carried out a "purification" (shuddhikaran) ritual at Haldwani's Ramlila Ground following Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's rally. Dhami attributed the ritual to independent organisations protesting hurt religious sentiments, while accusing Congress of falsely giving the incident a "Dalit angle."
Addressing reporters in Haridwar, the Chief Minister described Kharge as a national leader deserving of the highest respect, stating that insulting him is unthinkable.
"Kharge ji is a highly respectable national leader. His insult can never even be thought of. A few organisations protested there over the hurting of religious sentiments; the Congress party attempted to give it a Dalit angle," Dhami said.
Dhami accused the Congress of manufacturing outrage over the issue for political gain. "People of Uttarakhand can see this very well. The country is watching this too... Giving it this colour shows that the Congress party wants power anyhow. They want to play the victim card. The entire country knows what they did to Babu Jagjivan Ram, to Sitaram Kesri and to Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar," he said, referring to earlier Dalit and OBC political leaders.
The controversy began after Kharge raised the matter in the Rajya Sabha on the last day of the Parliament Monsoon Session, stating that he wishes this issue not to become political. He said that he has never asked for help in the name of being Dalit, but the alleged ritual made him feel "the sting of untouchability and humiliation".
"We have been saying for a long time that there is no place for Dalits in this country. After all, what was the need for a 'havan' there?" he said, calling it "the difference between BJP's words and actions."
BJP national president JP Nadda, responding in the House, said the allegations were "a matter of concern" for everyone and asserted that the BJP does not associate itself with such activities.
The row has since drawn reactions from several Congress leaders, including Leader of Oppsition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, who said that the 'suddhikaran' was a "result of Manuvadi mindset" nurtured by BJP and RSS.