Published Sep 04, 2026 | 9:34 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 04, 2026 | 9:41 PM
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.
Synopsis: Police have invoked Section 196(1)(b) of the BNS, Section 3(1)(u) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and provisions of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955. Bhatt has been named for allegedly defending the ritual in public.
Bengaluru’s Vidhana Soudha Police have registered a Zero FIR against Uttarakhand BJP president and MP Mahendra Bhatt and other BJP functionaries over the alleged “purification” ritual conducted at Haldwani’s Ramlila Maidan after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a rally there on 8 August.
The case was registered on a complaint by former All India Adivasi Congress vice-president TR Ramappa, who alleged that the ritual portrayed Kharge’s presence as having “polluted” the venue and amounted to caste-based humiliation.
Police have invoked Section 196(1)(b) of the BNS, Section 3(1)(u) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and provisions of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955. Bhatt has been named for allegedly defending the ritual in public.
The Bengaluru FIR comes amid a widening political row: Kharge wrote to JP Nadda on 2 September, questioning why no FIR had been registered in Uttarakhand despite the latter’s 13 August assurance in the Rajya Sabha that the incident would be investigated.
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The alleged incident happened on 10 August at the Ramlila Maidan in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, two days after Kharge had addressed a rally at the venue. A right-wing group, ‘Shri Ram Sena’, performed a ‘shuddhikaran’ (purification) ritual at the rally venue, with many pointing out that it was a casteist gesture aimed at the Congress leader.
The Congress president raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha on 13 August, the last day of the Monsoon session of Parliament.
Stressing that he has never sought any protection citing his Dalit identity, Kharge told the House that the incident felt like a humiliation to him.
“I do not want to turn this into a political issue. I have never told anyone that I am Dalit – protect me – nor have I begged in front of anyone. I have the strength to fight, and I do fight. But in Haldwani, the purification of the stage made me feel the sting of untouchability and humiliated me. My demand is that a case should be registered under the Untouchability Act against those who purified the stage in Haldwani, and they should be arrested and sent to jail,” he said.
To this, BJP leader and Union Minister Nadda responded, saying the incident was “unfortunate.” He reiterated the BJP’s claim that people associated with them were not involved in the incident and assured a probe.
