BENGALURU:
The Congress’ promise to ban Bajrang Dal in Karnataka if voted to power is an “insult” to Lord Hanuman and an attempt to “save” the proscribed Popular Front of India, the BJP charged on Tuesday, and said the people of the state will give a befitting reply to the party when they go to vote on May 10.
Hitting out at the Congress for its promise, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said what else could be expected from the party which considers chanting of Jai Sri Ram “communal politics” and an “insult to India”.
”It’s Mangalwar (Tuesday) today and on this Mangalwar, Congress came up with an inauspicious thought. The party released its manifesto, a bundle of lies, in view of the Karnataka polls. We all saw how the Congress stooped down to the level of insulting Bajrang Bali from the holy land of Karnataka which is associated with the lord,” Patra told a press conference.
This is “audacious” and the “height of appeasement politics”, he said. Tuesday is considered to be an auspicious day to worship Lord Hanuman in Hinduism.
”This is nothing but an attempt of the Congress to save the PFI (Popular Front of India). They keep looking for excuses to save PFI and organisations like it and this is the reason why they have insulted Bajrang Bali,” Patra charged.
”This is not new for the Congress as chanting of Jai Sri Ram appears to it to be communal politics,” he added.
He said the Congress has made such a promise in the ”holy land” of Karnataka “with which Lord Hanuman has an association.” In a message to the people of Karnataka in Kannada, Patra said, “Lord Hanuman is the pride of Karnataka. Karnataka is the land of Lord Hanuman and the Congress has insulted our lord.” ”Karnataka is not going to tolerate this kind of insult that has been hurled on our devata Hanuman ji,” he added.
बजरंगबली के अपमान में कांग्रेस पार्टी जिस तरह से उतरी है, इसे सबने देखा है।
— BJP (@BJP4India) May 2, 2023
कांग्रेस के लिए यह नई बात नहीं है। जय श्रीराम कहना, यह कांग्रेस पार्टी को ‘कम्युनल पॉलिटिक्स’ लगता है।
– डॉ @sambitswaraj pic.twitter.com/nwST3H6Iwl
At the press conference, Patra repeated his message to the people of Karnataka in Hindi as well.
”This is the height of appeasement politics. People of Karnataka and India will not tolerate the Congress insulting Hanuman Ji and saying that it will ban devotees of Bajarang Bali who would chant in the lord’s glory,” he added.
The Congress is committed to take firm and decisive action against individuals and organisations such as the Bajrang Dal and the Popular Front of India (PFI) ”spreading hatred” among communities on grounds of caste and religion, the party said in its election manifesto for the May 10 Karnataka Assembly polls released earlier in the day.
The action will include a ”ban” against such organisations, the party promised.
“When Prime Minister Narendra Modi had chanted Jai Sri Ram in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress had then objected to his chanting…. So the Congress party, which thinks that chanting of Jai Shri Ram is an insult to India, will now arrest and jail those who will chant Jai Bajrang Bali,” BJP spokesperson Patra charged.
This reflects the “inauspicious thoughts” of the Congress, he added.
”The Congress today will have to think as to why they have been facing Bajrang Bali’s ‘prakop’ (wrath) again and again since 2014,” Patra said in an apparent dig at the party over its electoral losses.PTI
