New Delhi [India], August 31 (ANI): After an FIR was filed against Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi, Senior Congress MP Jairam Ramesh launched a scathing attack against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), accusing them of retaliating against those demanding justice rather than taking action against perpetrators of caste discrimination.
Notably, Uttarakhand’s Haldwani City Kotwali Police registered an FIR following a complaint regarding Gandhi’s public statements about a purification ritual (shuddhikaran yajna) in Haldwani on Sunday.
In an X post, Ramesh slammed the BJP and RSS, “Rahul Gandhi Ji raised the issue of injustice, humiliation, and discrimination faced by Dalits in his press conference, and the BJP-RSS took less than 24 hours to prove him right. He highlighted the issue of untouchability and humiliation carried out in the name of “purification” after the rally of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge in Uttarakhand, and demanded action against the BJP workers involved in it.”
https://x.com/Jairam_Ramesh/status/2094350783420784926
The Congress MP further remarked that the Constitution “irks” the ruling establishment because it acts as a barrier against discriminatory mindsets. He accused the Uttarakhand government of attempting to suppress opposition voices.
“This did not sit well with the BJP-RSS’s double-engine government in Uttarakhand. That’s why, even today, no action has been taken against the accused, but an FIR was filed against Rahul Gandhi, who is demanding justice, the very next day. This is the very mindset against which Baba Saheb’s Constitution stands as the greatest wall. That’s why the Constitution irks them; that’s why they want to change it,” he said.
The case against Gandhi was registered on the complaint of Amit Kumar, a member of the Scheduled Caste community, who alleged that Rahul Gandhi’s remarks hurt the sentiments of the Scheduled Caste community.
Rahul Gandhi had reportedly described a ‘shuddhikaran yagya’ (purification ritual) as anti-Dalit. The purification ritual was organised by a Hindu organisation following a Congress rally, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, in Haldwani on August 8. (ANI)
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