New Delhi: A Punjab court has summoned Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge over his party’s promise to ban right-wing outfit Bajrang Dal in Karnataka. According to reports, Punjab’s Sangrur court has issued summons to the Congress chief in a Rs 100 crore defamation case recently filed by Hindu Suraksha Parishad founder Hitesh Bhardwaj against Kharge for “making derogatory remarks against Bajrang Dal”. . Karnataka elections over.
In his petition before the court, Bharadwaj said that the Congress, in its manifesto for Karnataka, compared the Bajrang Dal to “anti-national organizations like SIMI and Al-Qaeda”.
In its election manifesto for the Karnataka assembly elections, the Congress party had promised to ban organizations like the PFI and Bajrang Dal. The Congress manifesto for Karnataka stated that it would take “stern action against organizations like the Bajrang Dal which promote enmity and hatred between different communities”. It also promised to protect minorities from “communal violence” and “false cases”.
It took the name of the Popular Front of India (PFI), a Muslim group banned for alleged links to terrorism, along with the Bajrang Dal, which is often linked to vigilantism, violence and moral policing. Following a reaction from members of the ruling BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress clarified the promise, saying that “there was no proposal to ban the Bajrang Dal” as banning such an organization was under the purview of the central government.
However, the main opposition party hit back at the prime minister, accusing him of “hurting the religious sentiments” of devotees by comparing Lord Hanuman with Bajrang Dal and demanded an apology from him. The Congress subsequently registered a landslide victory in the May 10 assembly elections in Karnataka, winning 135 of the total 224 seats.
Not afraid of ban: VHP
An office-bearer of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) recently said that the Bajrang Dal is not cowed by the Congress’s threat of a ban in Karnataka. VHP general secretary Milind Parande said in Indore, “If they ban Bajrang Dal because of their hatred towards Hindus, necessary steps will be taken.” He said that Bajrang Dal was banned during the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, but the court quashed it saying it was wrong.
Congress clean sweep in Karnataka elections
According to the Election Commission of India, the Congress won 135 seats and ousted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from power in the lone southern state and emerged as the natural opposition party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. BJP managed to win 66 seats. The Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) had won 19 seats. Independents have won two seats while Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha have won one seat each.
Several opposition leaders congratulated the Congress for its emphatic victory in Karnataka and attributed the success to the impact of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. After the defeat, Basavaraj Bummai submitted his resignation and accepted the responsibility, saying that he would do a detailed analysis and come back stronger.
“We had an informal meeting with our Speaker and we have discussed some issues and we will soon call the elected representatives and the people contesting the elections. We will do a deep analysis and course correction to come back to power in Lok ” assembly elections,” Bommai said.
Elections in Karnataka were held on 10 May and the polling percentage was 73.29 per cent. With a vote share of 42.88 per cent, the Congress created history by registering the largest vote share by any party in Karnataka assembly elections in the last 34 years.
Congress observers will hand over the report to Kharge
Amid intense lobbying for the chief minister’s post in Karnataka, three central observers deputed by the Congress returned to the national capital on Monday after holding personal talks with the newly elected legislators. The observers will submit a report to party president Mallikarjun Kharge later in the day on the views expressed by most of the MLAs.
Former chief minister Siddaramaiah and PCC president DK Shivakumar are both staking claim for the top post and lobbying hard for it. Kharge had appointed former Maharashtra chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde, party general secretary Jitendra Singh and former AICC general secretary Deepak Babaria as observers for the election of the CLP leader from Karnataka.
The three leaders, along with AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Surjewala, left for Delhi from Bengaluru and will meet Kharge. The observers spoke personally to all the newly elected MLAs and sought their opinion on who should be the chief minister of the state.
However, highly placed sources have confirmed that senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah will be the next chief minister of Karnataka and the party’s state unit president DK Shivakumar will be his deputy. Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge is likely to make a formal announcement in this regard on Monday after the party’s impressive victory in the crucial assembly elections in the southern state.
Earlier, during the Congress Legislature Party meeting in Bengaluru on Sunday evening, the legislators passed a one-line resolution authorizing the party president to appoint the CLP leader in the state, who would be the next chief minister.