MANGALURU:
Bajrang Dal workers staged a protest near the Congress office in Mangaluru and burned the party manifesto released for the upcoming Karnataka elections.
This comes after the Congress on Tuesday in their Karnataka election manifesto said it will take “decisive action” as per law including banning organisations like Bajrang Dal, the Popular Front of India and others.
“We will take decisive action as per law including imposing a ban on any such organisations, read the Congress manifesto released by the party president Mallikarjun Kharge here.
#WATCH| Mangaluru, Karnataka: Bajrang Dal holds protest near Congress office and burns Congress manifesto (02/05)
— ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2023
Congress announced in its #KarnatakaElections2023 manifesto, to ban Bajrang Dal on the lines of PFI. pic.twitter.com/oHBam0F71o
“The Congress party is committed to taking firm and decisive action against individuals and organisations spreading hatred against communities on the grounds of caste and religion,” read the Congress manifesto.
“We believe that law and Constitution are sacrosanct and cannot be violated by individuals and Organisations like Bajrang Dal, PFI or others promoting enmity or hatred, whether among majority or minority communities,” it added.
The manifesto was released in the presence of former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, the KPCC President DK Shivakumar and Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera.
Meanwhile, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) International Joint General Secretary Surendra Jain hit out at the Congress party for comparing VHP with Popular Front of India (PFI) in its Karnataka Assembly election manifesto and said the move is ‘highly objectionable.’
ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ನ ನೀಚ, ಜಿಹಾದಿ ರಾಜಕಾರಣ ಇಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಕೊನೆಗೊಳ್ಳಲಿದೆ,
— VHP Karnataka (@karvhp) May 2, 2023
ಬಜರಂಗದಳ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ವಿರುದ್ದ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಮಟ್ಟದಲ್ಲಿ ಜನ ಜಾಗೃತಿ ಮಾಡಲಿದೆ.
ಶ್ರಿ ಸೂರ್ಯನಾರಾಯಣ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಸಹ ಸಂಯೋಜಕ ಬಜರಂಗದಳ.@VHPDigital @BajrangDalOrg pic.twitter.com/FioP7JZlf9
“Comparing VHP with anti-national, terrorist and banned organization PFI is highly objectionable”, Jain said.
VHP Leader further told ANI that the way Congress and PFI have formed an alliance, Bajrang Dal has become an eyesore of the Congress. “Sonia Gandhi cannot cheat the people of the country. The way Congress has wrongly tried to defame Bajrang Dal, the country’s people will not accept it and Bajrang Dal workers are taking it as a challenge. We will answer that too and will not let your plans succeed.”
“Congress Party talk about banning Bajrang Dal but forget that they were the ones who opposed the banning of anti-national organizations like ‘SIMMI’ and they even protested on the streets against the ban”, he added
Jain further added that by the Congress party demanding to ban Bajrang Dal, the party’s agenda has come out in public.
Karnataka will go to Assembly polls on May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13. PTI
