Controversy over Karnataka Congress’s election manifesto promising to ban right-wing Bajrang Dal has entered poll-bound Madhya Pradesh with the BJP making all-out efforts to corner the grand-old party on the issue.
Madhya Pradesh BJP, along with VHP and Bajrang Dal, is planning a massive protest march to mark its protest.
In an attempt to corner the Congress, senior BJP leader and the State Home Minister Narottam Mishra on Wednesday wrote to former Chief Minister Kamal Nath seeking his stance on this issue.
In his letter, Mishra said the veteran leader Kamal Nath, who presented himself as ‘Hanuman Bhakt’ should clear his view on this issue.
The BJP leader also mentioned that former Chief Minister and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh has supported Karnataka Congress’ manifesto which promises to ban the right-wing body.
“Digvijaya Singh is supporting the proposal of banning Bajrang Dal, which he had done years back. Now, he is repeating the same,” Mishra wrote.
He further mentioned that Kamal Nath has often presented himself as a devotee of Bajrangbali. “Kamal Nathji, the promise to ban Bajrang Dal in Karnataka Congress’ manifesto has hurt the sentiments of the devotees of Lord Hanuman. Since you often claim to be Lord Hanuman devotee, you should make your view clear on this issue.”
In the manifesto, the Congress had promised “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 action will include a “ban” against such organisations, the party promised. The VHP too came out against the manifesto. Bajrang Dal is the youth wing of the RSS-affiliated Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP).
Notably, Kamal Nath would often say that he has built a huge-size temple of Lord Hanuman in his home town Chhindwara and therefore, he won’t require a certificate from the saffron leaders to probe it.
While addressing a poll rally in Karnataka on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the Congress over its election manifesto, which proposed to ban Bajrang Dal. Since then, the BJP leaders have been launching scathing attacks on the grand-old party across the country.