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Congress protests in Kalaburagi against ‘purification’ ritual at Kharge’s rally venue in Uttarakhand
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Congress workers protesting in Kalaburagi on Sunday against the ‘purification’ ritual performed recently at the venue of Mallikarjun Kharge’s public meeting in Haldwani, Uttarakhand. | The protest came days after Mr. Kharge raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha, describing the incident as a reflection of the persistence of untouchability and caste discrimination which was prohibited in the Constitution. The controversy had erupted after a ritual was reportedly conducted at the Ramlila Maidan following his August 8 rally. The matter has since triggered a political row, with the government promising the Rajya Sabha that the allegation would be looked into.The Congress protest began from the party’s district office off Sedam Road and culminated near Annapurna Cross. Party workers raised slogans against the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and what they described as communal and casteist tendencies. They also burnt tyres as a mark of protest.The protesters carried placards carrying slogans such as “80 years of Independence, has casteism still not gone?”, “The Constitution is our religion and equality is its goal”, “Purification should be of the mind, not by caste”, “Before cleansing the soil, cleanse your minds” and “Hail unity, condemn hatred”.District Congress Committee president and MLC Jagdev Guttedar, MLA Allamaprabhu Patil, and another MLC Tippannappa Kamaknoor addressed the protesters.MLA of Kalaburagi North Kaneez Fatima, Kalaburagi Urban Development Authority chairman Mazhar Alam Khan, former Minister Revu Naik Belamagi, district president of the Five Guarantee Committee Chandrika Parameshwar, District Mahila Congress president Renuka Singe, District Youth Congress president Shakeel Ahmed Saradagi and party leaders Dr Kiran Deshmukh, Rajiv Jane, Subhash Rathod and Bhimrao T.T. were among those who participated in the protest along with hundreds of party workers. Published - August 17, 2026 12:53 am IST
Minister Priyank Kharge addressing a gathering during the Independence Day celebrations at the DAR Police Parade Ground in Kalaburagi on Saturday. | Speaking to press persons in Kalaburagi city on Saturday, Mr. Kharge said the freedom struggle was marked by several mass movements in which people from different sections of society participated. He said he could provide the names of 500 Congress members who had sacrificed their lives during the freedom struggle and challenged the RSS to furnish even 50 such names.Mr. Kharge, referring to Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, said BJP leaders were unaware of the circumstances surrounding the honorific “Veer” attached to his name and claimed that Savarkar himself had adopted the title.He also questioned the organisation’s role during the communal violence that followed Partition, asking what contribution it had made towards protecting people during the riots.On the RSS’s legal status, Mr. Kharge said an organisation could not be subjected to a ban without first establishing its legal status. Referring to recent remarks by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and B.L Santosh that the organisation could not be banned, he said: “RSS cannot be banned” because, according to him, it was not registered. He questioned how an organisation could be banned if it was not formally registered.Rejecting the BJP’s allegation that the proposed Karnataka Regulation of Use of Government Premises and Public Property Bill, 2026, which seeks to regulate the use of government premises and public property by organisations and groups, was aimed at the RSS, Mr. Kharge asked why the BJP was opposing the Bill without examining its provisions and pointed out that it did not name any organisation, association, institution or political party.He said that the proposed law was intended to provide a statutory framework for regulating the use of public property in accordance with directions issued by the Supreme Court and High Courts. Organisations would continue to be free to conduct activities on private premises, but programmes, processions and gatherings on government land and other public property would be subject to permission from the Competent Authority.“There is no question of banning any organisation,” Mr. Kharge said, asking the BJP to identify where the Bill proposed such a ban.He said the government’s responsibility was to ensure that public spaces were used in a regulated manner and that the proposed provisions would apply to organisations irrespective of their registration status.Dismissing the BJP’s claim that he feared the RSS, Mr. Kharge said he had no “RSS-phobia” and asserted that it was BJP leaders who were displaying what he termed “Priyank-phobia”. Published - August 16, 2026 12:23 am IST
VideosCongress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge raised the issue of the reported ‘shuddhikaran’ (purification ceremony) conducted at Haldwani’s Ramlila Ground after his public rally on August 8. Speaking in Parliament, Kharge said he had only spoken about public issues and questioned whether such actions were compatible with constitutional values, democracy and social justice. Published - August 13, 2026 10:26 pm IST
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