Nabin calls shuddhikaran row a Congress 'conspiracy' at Haldwani meet

BJP national president Nitin Nabin on Tuesday described the row over a purification ritual held at the venue of a Congress rally in Haldwani as a "divisive conspiracy" engineered by the opposition party, and trained his attack on Rahul Gandhi and the Congress leadership.

Speaking at the BJP State working committee meeting in Haldwani, Mr. Nabin said the Congress national president had used the soil of Haldwani to play a political game and hatch a conspiracy, which he said reflected divisive politics and thinking. He alleged that slogans linked to a particular religion were raised from what he called the sacred ground where the purification was carried out, and accused the Congress of seeking political mileage from the episode.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a rally in Haldwani on August 8. Three days later, on August 11, members of the Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas Sangathan performed a 'shuddhikaran yagna' at the same venue.

The Congress subsequently demanded police action against those who conducted the ritual, alleging that it was carried out because Mr. Kharge belongs to the Dalit community. Mr. Kharge raised the matter in the Rajya Sabha during the recent monsoon session, seeking cases under laws dealing with untouchability against those responsible and calling for their arrest and imprisonment. An FIR in the matter was lodged on September 8. The police had earlier filed an FIR against Mr. Gandhi as well over his remarks surrounding the controversy.

Mr. Nabin questioned the Congress's record on Dalit issues, asking how the party had treated leaders such as B.R. Ambedkar, Jagjivan Ram and Sitaram Kesri. He cited alleged incidents involving Dalits in Rajasthan, Karnataka and Kerala to argue that the Congress lacked the moral standing to claim concern for Dalit welfare.

He also criticised the Congress over its past policies during the period when Article 370 was in force, alleging that members of the Valmiki community in Jammu and Kashmir remained confined to sanitation work despite holding higher educational qualifications.

The BJP leader praised Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami's government for implementing the Uniform Civil Code and other public welfare measures, and expressed confidence that the BJP would return to power in the state in 2027.