New Delhi: Lord Hanuman or Bajrang Bali’s “gada” (mace) was clearly visible at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi Saturday as the party emerged a clear winner in the Karnataka assembly elections with more than half the constituencies in the 224-seat House.
Several party workers in Hanuman costumes jumped around in a clear taunt to the BJP which had made much brouhaha about the Congress’s pre-poll promise that it would ban right-wing organisations like the Bajrang Dal which “spread hatred among communities on grounds of caste and religion”.
The Congress manifesto read: “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. We will take decisive action as per law including imposing a ban on any such organisations.”
BJP seized on this as an election issue, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing the Congress of “insulting” Lord Hanuman.
At the celebrations Saturday, slogans of “Bajrang Bali ki Jai” and “Pawan Putra Hanuman ki Jai” filled the air, while one costumed Hanuman told a television channel: “Bajrang Bali is not with the BJP but with the Congress.”
Congress’s Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said it was clear with whom Bajrang Bali stood in these elections. “Bajrang Bali’s ‘gada’ landed on the head of BJP corruption and the party was out,” Baghel said.
Baghel also said Karnataka was a personal defeat for Prime Minister Narendra Modi because he had put himself in front of his party’s campaign.
While the BJP’s poll pitch was expectedly shrill on Hindutva, the Congress underscored corruption in the state, and made the “40 per cent commission sarkar” into a slogan.
The “40 per cent commission” row erupted following the suicide of Belagavi-based contractor Santosh Patil in April 2022, who had alleged that former BJP minister K.S. Eshwarappa demanded 40 per cent commission for the release of funds for the civil works undertaken by him at a village. The Karnataka police had later cleared the leader of the charges.
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