New Delhi: A shuddhikaran (purification) ceremony held at the Ramlila Ground in Haldwani after a rally addressed by Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge on 8 August has created a political stir in Uttarakhand, with both the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) training their guns at each other.
Speaking to ThePrint, Uttarakhand Congress chief Ganesh Godiyal claimed that the group—Shri Ram Sena—that performed the ceremony was associated with the BJP, a charge that the ruling party has denied. Godiyal went on to ask why no action has been taken so far. The Congress has posted Godiyal’s statement on its official X handle.
Godiyal said it was “deeply distressing and condemnable” that the very stage from which the Congress president addressed the public at the Haldwani rally was the venue of a “purification” ritual by individuals associated with the BJP. “This incident reflects caste-based discrimination and a narrow mindset. The Congress believes in humanity, equality, and brotherhood, whereas such incidents foster animosity and division in society. We urge the Senior Superintendent of Police of Nainital to take cognisance of this matter, conduct an impartial investigation, and ensure appropriate action is taken against the guilty if the law has been violated,” he said in a post on X.
He further said that there is no place for discrimination and untouchability in modern democratic India. “We vehemently oppose such a mindset through democratic and constitutional means. Mahatma Gandhi had said, ‘Untouchability is a crime against God.’ Humanity and equality constitute the supreme religion,” he added.
हल्द्वानी में कांग्रेस की रैली में माननीय राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष श्री मल्लिकार्जुन खड़गे जी ने जिस मंच से जनता को संबोधित किया, उसी मंच का भाजपा से जुड़े लोगों द्वारा ‘शुद्धिकरण’ किया जाना बेहद आहत करने वाला और निंदनीय है। यह घटना जातिगत भेदभाव और संकीर्ण मानसिकता को दर्शाती है।… pic.twitter.com/bAWZyKVTHI
— Ganesh Godiyal (@UKGaneshGodiyal) August 12, 2026
A video of the ‘purification’ ceremony has gone viral on social media, with one of the organisers claiming that a political programme was held there and certain slogans were raised which should not have happened. “This place has been made to conduct Hindu programmes and functions. To use this platform for conducting a political programme and then to give a platform to a person who in the past has spoken about Hinduvadi organisations being like a snake and has appealed to Muslims to kill them, such things hurts the sentiments of the Hindu community. It also violates the sanctity of the place,” said one of the organisers in the viral video defending the purification drive.
Ahead of the Assam elections earlier this year, Kharge had allegedly compared the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and BJP to a poisonous snake, prompting Sangh’s Assam unit to file a police complaint against him for alleged hate speech.
Reacting to the Haldwani incident, Congress leader Salman Soz urged the prime minister to condemn the incident. “This is outrageous and I am so angry! These people are an affront to our society, to our country. They have not only committed a hate crime against my party’s leader and the Leader of the Opposition but against a respected senior member of the Dalit community. We have normalized such hate crimes. It is time to put an end to this nonsense,” he wrote on X.
“[I] call on PM @narendramodi to condemn this incident and direct the Home Minister, the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand and @uttarakhandcops to arrest the perpetrators of this vile act and to hold them accountable under applicable hate crime laws. If Kharge ji has to suffer such indignities, imagine the plight of hundreds of millions of our fellow citizens from marginalized communities who have little or no voice. Let us act together to fight this scourge. Please!”
The incident received flak from other Opposition parties too, including the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). “The very spot in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, where Mallikarjun Kharge ji delivered a speech on 8 August was subjected to a “purification” ritual! The barbaric progeny of Manu simply cannot stomach the fact that a Dalit is one of the country’s foremost leaders. Does the BJP nurture such casteist bigots? They ought to be banished from the country!” said RJD spokesperson Priyanka Bharti.
A statement issued by the Uttarakhand BJP denied any connection with the organisation that conducted the ceremony. “BJP has no connection with the organisation that conducted the rituals; Congress’s allegations are a diversionary tactic. The Sanatani community is deeply hurt by the objectionable slogans raised by a specific religious group at a ground of great religious significance,” said Khajan Das, BJP Cabinet minister in Uttarakhand and spokesperson. Das said the people of Devbhoomi, as Uttarakhand is called, are furious over the objectionable slogans raised by a specific religious group at the sacred Ramlila Ground.
“The Congress is resorting to caste-based politics and attempts to divide the Sanatan community merely to divert attention from the issue,” he added.
Das claimed that the Congress is making “baseless attempts” to link the BJP with the Shri Ram Sena, the organisation that performed the purification and worship rituals in Haldwani. Das also expressed objection to the fact that slogans specific to a particular religion were raised during the Haldwani rally on 11 August.
“The site where this incident occurred is the sacred Ramlila Ground, which holds immense religious significance in Sanatan Dharma. Raising slogans associated with other religions at such a holy site cannot be accepted or justified under any circumstances. This is a direct insult to the faith of crores of Sanatanis,” he added.
Das said that insulting Dalits has always been the Congress’s nature. “It is not Mallikarjun Kharge who needs purification, but the Congress party’s own tainted mindset,” he added.
“The Congress humiliated figures ranging from Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar to its own Dalit national president, Sitaram Kesri—whom they assaulted, tore the clothes off, and drove out of the party office. Babu Jagjivan Ram was also subjected to disrespect by the Congress party. This mindset of the Congress can never be forgotten,” the minister said.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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