Days after Congress wins Karnataka elections, court summons its chief Mallikarjun Kharge over Bajrang Dal row

The court in Sangrur in Punjab summoned the veteran leader following a complaint from Hitesh Bhardwaj, a president of a group named ‘Bajrang Dal Hindustan’.

• Shubham
• 15 May, 2023

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By: Shubham Ghosh

A court in the northern Indian state of Punjab on Monday (15) summoned Mallikarjun Kharge, president of the Indian National Congress and leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha or Upper House of the Indian Parliament, in a defamation case worth Rs 100 crore (£9.7 million) related to his party equating the banned Popular Front of India Islamic outfit with the Hindu right-wing Bajrang Dal, in its manifesto for the recently concluded elections in the southern state of Karnataka.

The court in Sangrur in Punjab summoned the veteran leader following a complaint from Hitesh Bhardwaj, a president of a group named ‘Bajrang Dal Hindustan’.

According to the petitioner, the grand-old party compared Bajrang Dal with “anti-national organisations like SIMI and Al-Qaeeda”.

SIMI or Students Islamic Movement of India is a banned terrorist outfit in the country.

Naming the Bajrang Dal, which is the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or the ideological mentor to India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress promised to ban outfits that promote “enmity or hatred, whether among majority or minority communities”.

The matter triggered a major controversy ahead of the elections in the state on May 10. While the BJP strategised to play the majority card and the Congress seemed to resort to damage control, it eventually won the elections by securing a thumping majority and toppling the BJP’s only government in south India.

Prime minister Narendra Modi also hit out at the Congress over its idea and urged voters to chant ‘Jai Bajrangbali’ while casting their ballots in the election and accused the opposition party of deciding “to lock up” Bajrang Bali devotees.

The Congress countered him and accused him of hurting religious sentiments of the devotees by equating Lord Hanuman with Bajrang Dal.

On Saturday (13), as the results were being declared and it became clear that the Congress was set for victory, its workers and supporters taunted the BJP by dressing up as Lord Hanuman who is also called Bajrangbali.