PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
The Bharatiya Janata Party has accused the Congress of perpetuating casteism and divisive politics citing the Haldwani ‘purification incident. “Spreading lies on the Haldwani incident, looking for caste in cups of tea and directing the burning of Manusmriti point clearly towards what the Congress intends. The BJP will not let this divisive fire burn in Uttarakhand and will instead spread the message of harmony,” the BJP State president and Rajya Sabha member Mahendra Prasad Bhatt said.
After chairing a meeting with the party’s district heads and in-charges regarding the Samajik Sauhard Sankalp dharna on September 7, Bhatt responded to questions raised by the Congress. He told the media that the BJP is a responsible political party which is committed to maintaining social harmony. “The attempts at caste-based division being made by the Congress and other opposition parties are alarming and unfortunate. This Devbhumi has always had an environment of social harmony and cordiality. The Congress is misusing an incident to spread lies about dalit humiliation to disturb the social fabric of Uttarakhand. As part of our moral responsibility, the BJP workers will stage a peaceful dharna in front of BR Ambedkar’s statues and pictures at the Mandal level to thwart attempts at casteist politics and to raise awareness on harmony,” he said.
The BJP State president accused the Congress of “playing with the fire of casteist politics” in the nation. He said that it has repeatedly come to the fore that there was no caste-based purification at the Ramlila ground in Haldwani where the Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge had addressed the public earlier in August. The Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi are still bent upon trying to establish their false and dangerous narrative. “The statements of the Congress leaders have hurt the sentiments and dented the image of dalits and Uttarakhand. Rahul Gandhi speaks from an open platform about alleged casteist discrimination in tea cups at tea stalls, spreads lies about patriarchy in Manusmriti and directs his party workers to burn the Manusmriti. All this clearly shows that Gandhi and the Congress are exhausted by repeated electoral losses and are now making a desperate attempt to break society,” Bhatt said.
