New Delhi: Facing attacks from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over their manifesto promise to take action against the Bajrang Dal if voted to power in Karnataka, Congress leaders seem to be doing damage control.
Senior Congress leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister M. VeeraPpa moily said on Wednesday that there was no suggestion before the party to ban Bajrang Dal if it came to power in the state.
He said, ‘The stand of the Supreme Court on the politics of hate is very clear. We had made the statement in our manifesto as a part of it. But we have no intention of banning Bajrang Dal. KPCC President DK Shivakumar has made it clear today Press conference in Udupi. He insisted that state governments do not have the right to ban such organizations.
The clarification came amid a concerted attack by the BJP on the Congress over its manifesto, mentioning possible action against organizations including the Bajrang Dal and the already banned Popular Front of India (PFI).
“We believe that the law and the Constitution are sacred and cannot be violated by individuals and organizations like Bajrang Dal, PFI, whether promoting enmity or hatred between majority or minority communities. We will take decisive action as per law including banning any such organisation,” said the manifesto released by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday.
BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have lashed out at the Congress for allegedly insulting the Hindu god Hanuman and trying to lock up those who chanted “Jai Bajrang Bali”. The Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, takes its name from Bajrang Bali, another name for Lord Hanuman. BJP has also done gave instructions to chant its workers Hanuman Chalisa In temples all over Karnataka.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar visited the Chamundeshwari temple in Mysore on Thursday and reportedly announced a special committee to oversee the development of major Hanuman temples in the state and another to oversee the development of the Anjanadri hills. Announced Samiti, which is believed to be the birthplace of the Lord. Hanuman.
SSeveral Congress leaders, including Randeep Singh Surjewala and Shivkumar, have tried to draw a line between Bajrang Bali (Lord Hanuman) and the Bajrang Dal.
Speaking in Mysuru on Thursday, Shivakumar reportedly said, “Look clearly at what we have said in the manifesto. Those who break the peace will have to face the consequences. They (BJP) are trying to decide a narrative, but it will be decided by the public in the elections. There is no harm to the Congress by this. I am also a Hindu and I am a devotee of Ram, Hanuman and Shiva.
The manifesto and the mention of the Bajrang Dal have triggered a new political row in the state with less than a week to go to polls, with ‘Hindutva politics’ becoming a significant factor, especially in the coastal districts of Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada. is seen as.
Modi’s offensive
The Prime Minister has used the issue to launch a series of attacks on the Congress. At a rally in Vijayanagara district on Tuesday, Bajrang Dal, without mentioning Modi Said“First Congress locked up Lord Ram and now they want to lock those who chant ‘Jai bajarangabalee’,
The next day, he chanted “Jai Bajrang Bali” during all three public meetings he addressed across Karnataka with the call of “Bharat Mata ki Jai”.
During a rally, heAppealed to people to support by lighting a torch on his phone and said“Please cast your vote and don’t forget to chant ‘Jai Bajrang Bali’ when you exercise your right to vote.”
In one of his many attacks on the Congress since the release of the manifesto, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has said that any move to ban the organization would prove costly for the party. And That Congress party today is in the clutches of SDPI (Social Democratic Party of India) and PFI and it cannot get out of it.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the parent organization of Bajrang Dal, on Thursday… Said that tThe Congress was now realizing that it had “committed a sin by defaming Bajrang Dal” but the people of Karnataka would not forgive it.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy also weighed in on Thursday. He Allegedly Said that the Congress is raising the issue now, but did nothing when it was in power in the state.
“All those things are not important. When a Congress government ruled for five years, why didn’t they ban it? Why are they raising this issue now? We have to change the culture of those organizations. We have to teach them that How to behave in public life is important.’
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