The Congress manifesto committing to act against Bajrang Dal has snowballed into a major controversy in the poll-bound Karnataka with the Bajrang Dal workers taking to the streets to protest against the grand old party.
Hours after the manifesto came out, the Bajrang Dal workers staged a protest near the Congress office in Mangaluru and burned the party manifesto on Tuesday. Demonstrations were taken out in Udupi too.
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 youth wing of the RSS-affiliated Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP).
Protest marches were taken out by the Bajrang Dal near the Congress headquarters in Delhi too. The protestors demanded that the party withdraw its promise of banning the outfit if voted to power in Karnataka.
"The Bajrang Dal is "the pride of the country" and if the Congress does not change its Karnataka poll manifesto to withdraw the promise, a massive countrywide agitation will be launched," VHP leaders said at the protest.
VHP International Joint General Secretary Surendra Jain too hit out at the Congress party for comparing VHP with PFI calling the move 'highly objectionable.' "Comparing VHP with anti-national, terrorist and banned organisation PFI is highly objectionable", Jain said.
The VHP leader told ANI that the way Congress and PFI have allied and Bajrang Dal has become an eyesore of the Congress. "Sonia Gandhi cannot cheat the people of the country. The way Congress has wrongly tried to defame Bajrang Dal, the country's people will not accept it and Bajrang Dal workers are taking it as a challenge. We will answer that too and will not let your plans succeed," he added.
The issue resonated in the BJP campaigning on Tuesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself leading the offensive on Congress' anti-Bajrang Dal stance.
While speaking at a rally in Vijayanagara, Prime Minister Modi said he was fortunate that he got the opportunity to pay obeisance to the land of Hanuman. "But see the misfortune that when I have come to pay my respect to Hanuman's land, at the same time, the Congress in its manifesto has decided to lock up Lord Hanuman.
"Initially, they locked up Prabhu Shri Ram (Lord Ram). And now they want to lock up people who say Jai Bajrang Bali'," the prime minister said. "It is the misfortune of the country that the Congress had a problem with Prabhu Shri Ram and now it has a problem with the people who say 'Jai Bajrang Bali'," he added.
Other BJP ministers too joined the chorus as they alleged the Congress for opposing both "Lord Rama and Lord Hanuman" and following politics of appeasement and division.
"The devotees of Lord Hanuman are the Bajrangis of Bajrang Dal and the Congress Party has announced in its election manifesto that it would ban the Bajrang Dal. If the devotees of Lord Hanuman rebel, then the Congress will be uprooted from the country, Karnataka CM Basavraj Bommai's office quoted him as saying in a statement.
