‘Abhorrently casteist’: Congress to protest FIR against Rahul over Haldwani remarks

After Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s rally in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi was arrested for allegedly promoting casteist sentiments through a "purification" ritual. The Uttarakhand Police filed a criminal case against Gandhi the following day, accusing him of promoting enmity between groups and causing distress under the Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes (Offenses) Act.

The Congress party responded by vowing to protest across the nation against what they described as the BJP's assault on constitutional values of social justice.

Congress general secretary K C Venugopal labelled the BJP’s defense of the ritual as “pot calling the kettle black” and accused them of being the biggest perpetrators of social injustice today. Venugopal emphasized that the Congress will not rest until the true culprits of the insult to Kharge ji are punished and the FIR against Rahul ji is dismissed.

The party plans to rally its workers in protest on Monday evening, demanding prosecution of BJP leaders who insulted Kharge ji and defending the Constitution against the BJP’s assault on social justice values.