After Rahul Gandhi’s aggressive press conference in Delhi, where he demanded that the Uttarakhand government and the Centre ensure registration of FIR under the stringent SC/ST Act over the alleged “purification” drive at Haldwani’s Ramlila Maidan following Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s visit, the BJP is preparing for the possibility of another confrontation.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is closely watching whether the Leader of Opposition in Parliament will travel to Haldwani and stage a sit-in similar to the one he held in Delhi. During that protest, Rahul Gandhi put pressure on the Delhi Police to register an FIR against police personnel over the use of pellet guns on protesters during a student protest at Jantar Mantar.
The BJP
has envisaged how it will play its cards, if push comes to shove, say multiple sources within the party’s Uttarakhand unit. The party has rubbished the ‘purification’ narrative, noting that the drive was not against the presence of a Dalit, but against the “abuse of a cultural platform for religious and political purpose”.
“First of all, that was a cultural platform. No political outfit should be given that platform. We received a video that showed ‘Allah Hu Akbar’ slogans were raised from that platform. Hence we conducted a Havan for its purification. I also belong to the Scheduled Caste community. I worship Lord Valmiki. So, Congress should desist from spreading any narrative that says we are opposing the presence of any Dalit person there,” said Ankit Pal, a Dalit and one of those involved in the alleged purification drive.
However, should Rahul Gandhi decide to up the ante, sources in BJP suggest that the party is confident the issue will boomerang on the Grand Old Party.
Upper-caste groups—specifically Thakurs (Rajputs) and Brahmins—make up around 60 per cent of Uttarakhand’s population. So much so, ever since Uttarakhand attained statehood in 2000, the chief ministerial post has remained exclusively restricted to either a Thakur or a Brahmin leader across Congress or BJP. If Gandhi decides to push the envelope too hard, Congress may lose votes of the upper castes, who are currently disenchanted with the ruling Pushkar Dhami government.
But if Sunday is any indication, the Congress is not letting the matter go. Party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday stepped up the attack on social media, saying on X, “Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge ji addressed a rally in Haldwani, after which people from BJP-RSS ‘purified’ his stage. This ‘purification’ is not only a symbol of an extremely reprehensible and shameful mindset but also a grave violation of our Constitution and the SC/ST Act, and a crime.”
Sources within Uttarakhand BJP told News18 that if the Congress continues to target BJP over caste, it will “explore” avenues to hit back at the Grand Old Party on religious grounds which, the BJP feels, will find much more resonance in ‘Devbhoomi’ Uttarakhand—home to some of the holiest shrines of Hinduism.
“The slogans with religious overtones that were raised from a Congress rally are present as visual evidence. What has been a local matter of Haldwani so far can be made available to the public at large for them to make an informed decision on whether BJP is right or Rahul Gandhi,” said a source, requesting anonymity.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Ajay Tamta, who hails from reserved seat Almora, told News18: “Parliament was in session. Congress had a scheduled event at Ramlila Ground at Uttarakhand’s Haldwani. However, there were slogans of religious frenzy from that event.” He added that Ramlila Ground holds huge “religious significance” for the locals.
The group behind the alleged purification drive also raised similar allegations. “After the conclusion of the event on August 8, the organisers didn’t pay heed to the sanctity of the place. A video went viral that showed Islamic slogans were raised from there about Nara-e-Taqdeer and Allah Hu Akbar. Following that, we went to the venue to find many impurities like strewn bottles with urine in it. We have our Ram Mandir just next to it. We visited on 9th and 10th and finally decided to clean it ourselves,” Girish Pandit, head of Shri Ram Sena Dharmik Seva Nyas, told News18.
As the BJP waits for the Congress’s next big move, the Grand Old Party has directed the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee to lodge FIRs at multiple locations across all districts of the state on Monday over the “purification” issue. The Congress will also hold a major protest in the state capital, Dehradun, on September 7. Senior party leaders, including Uttarakhand Congress in-charge Kumari Selja, are expected to participate in the protest. Leader of Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly, Yashpal Arya, has confirmed these programmes.
However, for the BJP, the issue is not yet big enough to warrant pulling the trigger unless Rahul Gandhi enters the fray, sources say.
