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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Spokesperson CR Kesavan on Sunday hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his recent remarks on the 'Shuddhikaran' (purification) ritual, alleging that the party prioritises "dynastic welfare" over the welfare of Dalits.
The row erupted after Gandhi demanded the immediate registration of an FIR under the SC/ST Act against those who allegedly performed a 'Shuddhikaran' ritual in Uttarakhand following Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's visit. Reacting to the issue, Kesavan alleged that the Congress is trying to divide people along caste and communal lines. "For the Congress party, not Dalit welfare but dynastic welfare has been the paramount priority. To further the interests of their first family, the Congress has never hesitated to preach the politics of polarisation, trying to divide people along communal and caste lines. This is precisely what the Congress and Rahul Gandhi are doing in Haldwani," CR Kesavan told ANI. "The youth from the Dalit community have thoroughly exposed Rahul Gandhi's dishonest attempts to mislead and misinform with a false narrative contrary to what happened in Haldwani. The Congress has a dubious record of disrespecting and denigrating deserving leaders from disadvantaged communities," he alleged. Targeting the Congress leadership, the BJP spokesperson further said, "The Congress leadership never has had any genuine care or concern for the disadvantaged sections of our society, and they will never hesitate to snatch away the rights of our marginalised sections to perpetrate their poisonous politics of religious appeasement." The remarks come a day after Rahul Gandhi demanded an immediate registration of an FIR under the SC/ST Act against those who allegedly carried out a 'shuddhikaran' (purification) ritual in Uttarakhand following Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's visit. "This act violates the SC/ST Act. Performing a 'purification' ritual is a crime. Yet, no action has been taken. Therefore, we demand that an FIR be registered immediately against those who carried out this purification ritual in Uttarakhand," Gandhi said. Demanding that the Prime Minister must direct the immediate registration of an FIR, he added, "We want the Prime Minister to immediately order the registration of an FIR against these individuals under the SC/ST Act. It is the duty of both the State Government and the Central Government to ensure that Kharge ji receives justice in Uttarakhand." "When they perform this purification, they are effectively saying that Dalits should not be touched, that Dalits are unclean, and this constitutes a crime under the Indian Constitution," he said. (ANI)
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