NEW DELHI: BJP and Congress clashed Saturday over the opposition party’s allegation that the venue of its rally in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani was “purified” because of the presence of its president Mallikarjun Kharge, with Rahul Gandhi demanding an FIR as he linked it to the unconstitutional practice of untouchability.BJP slammed Rahul’s comments as his usual bid to divide Hindus on different grounds, including caste, and played videos of some of the organisers of the so-called purification exercise to rebut his charge. It also questioned Rahul for raising the issue so many days after the alleged purification on Aug 10.One of the organisers, Ankit Pal, said he was himself a dalit and that a ‘hawan’ was held after the venue was cleaned for Ramlila. The organisers have said they have no link with BJP.At a news conference, Rahul targeted the BJP and RSS over the “purification” and demanded that PM Narendra Modi order an FIR under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against all those involved in the matter. “We are demanding justice for the Congress president and it is the duty of central and state govt to ensure that Kharge ji gets justice in Uttarakhand. Every dalit faces humiliation from birth to death, everywhere, at every step,” he alleged.“Now the ball is in BJP’s court – an FIR must be filed under the SC/ST Act at the earliest, action must be taken, and justice must be served – otherwise, Congress knows very well how to secure justice,” Rahul warned.“If they take action, good. If they don’t take it, then there will be some reaction. These days, inaction has a much bigger reaction,” he said. “We will ensure action is taken against the culprits. Even if BJP fails to act, the entire Congress party will not let them escape…I
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guarantee it,” he added.BJP fielded its dalit spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan and Sudhanshu Trivedi to counter Rahul. “Rahul always supports forces working to divide society and uses lies to set the narrative,” Paswan said.“The Congress MP jumps from one issue to another but the one theme that runs constantly is his tendency to put Hindus against each other,” Trivedi said. He cited a string of cases of violence against dalits, including in Rajasthan, Haryana and Karnataka, when Congress was in office in these states and accused the party of maintaining silence in incidents where aggressors were members of a particular community. Rahul, in reality, works to strengthen the agenda of Macaulay, Marx and ‘maulana’, he alleged
