Court In Punjab Summons Mallikarjun Kharge For Allegedly Karnataka Bajrang Dal Ban Promise
Update: 2023-05-15 15:17 IST
Court In Punjab Summons Mallikarjun Kharge For Allegedly Karnataka Bajrang Dal Ban Promise
Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the Congress, has been summoned in court in Punjab as his party promised to ban the Bajrang Dal in Karnataka. In connection with a Rs 100 crore defamation case brought by Hitesh Bhardwaj, the founder of Hindu Suraksha Parishad, against Kharge for "making defamatory remarks against Bajrang Dal" during the recently concluded Karnataka elections, Sangrur court in Punjab reportedly issued a summons to the Congress leader.
Bhardwaj said in his appeal to the court that the Congress had equated the Bajrang Dal to "anti-national organisations like SIMI and Al-Qaeda" in its platform for Karnataka.
The dispute started when the Congress party vowed to ban organisations like PFI and Bajrang Dal in its election manifesto for the Karnataka Assembly Elections. In its platform for Karnataka, the Congress party promised to take strong action against organisations like Bajrang Dal that foster animosity and hatred among different communities. Furthermore, it pledged to shield minorities from "communal violence" and "false cases".
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP members criticised the promise, prompting the Congress to clarify that it had "no proposal to ban the Bajrang Dal" and that the national government was in charge of such decisions.