The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday dismissed Congress’s claims of a “purification” ritual being held at Ramlila Ground in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a public meeting there.
“I wish to state that there was no such intention; the Bharatiya Janata Party dissociates itself from this entirely. The BJP has nothing to do with it,” ANI cited Das saying. “We are not asking for anything impossible. We are seeking justice for the Congress president,” the Lok Sabha LoP asserted. Rahul also raised a larger question of atrocities and violence faced by Dalits in India, and pointed to how Dalit students are made to clean toilets in schools and barred from drinking water from the village well or in tea shops. He also played a video of Uttarakhand BJP president Mahendra Bhatt defending the ritual, stating ‘the place was polluted with slogans’.
Kharge had, at the Congress Working Committee meeting on August 19, raised the issue of the purification ritual and lamented that some party leaders didn’t take it up, according to an earlier HT report . Earlier reporting noted: Congress chief Kharge must get justice, we demand FIR: Rahul Gandhi on rally venue ‘purification’ in Uttarakhand Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday (August 29, 2026) pressed for the registration of an FIR under the SC/ST law over the ‘purification’ ritual conducted at a public ground in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani after party president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a public rally there earlier in the month.
Uttarakhand minister and BJP leader Khajan Das said the party had no connection with the incident and accused the Congress of “attempting to mislead” the Dalit community, ANI news agency reported. Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi earlier today demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi order an FIR to be filed against those involved in the “shuddhikaran” or purification of the Ramlila ground. Rahul further played a purported video showing the BJP’s Uttarakhand chief supporting shuddhikaran, and sought “justice” for the Congress president. Uttarakhand minister Das said there was no intention to insult Kharge, while adding that the BJP completely disassociated itself from the incident. He further alleged that the Congress was “spreading rumours and attempting to mislead the Dalit community”. The Uttarakhand minister further stated that if an organisation had conducted a “havan” or purification ritual at the Ramlila Ground, “that is their own affair. According to the Constitution this is a crime. Earlier reporting noted: “The BJP-RSS people practice untouchability, though it is banned, a crime as per Constitution,” Mr. Gandhi said, speaking at a press conference. Earlier reporting noted: The Congress wants PM to soon order FIR registration under SC/ST law against those indulging in purification act, the LoP said, asserting that Mr. Kharge “will get justice in Uttarakhand, whether it is today or tomorrow”. “If such a thing can be done against senior person like Mallikarjun Kharge, imagine what can be done to a four-year-old in a school,” he said.
