Purification row: Cong forms SC/ST forum, steps up stir in Punjab, U'khand

With Assembly elections due in Punjab and Uttarakhand in 2027, the Congress has stepped up its outreach to Dalit voters, seeking to turn the 'purification' incident following party president Mallikarjun Kharge’s rally in Haldwani into a larger political issue centred on caste discrimination and the 'Manuvadi mindset' of the BJP and RSS.

From Delhi to Dehradun and Jalandhar, Congress leaders, particularly those from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities, have joined the campaign, holding protests and mobilising party workers over the incident.

As part of the effort, 32 Congress MPs from SC/ST communities have formed a parliamentary SC/ST forum to take up the issue and coordinate the party’s response. The leaders are scheduled to submit a representation to President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday, 8 September, seeking her intervention.

“A Secretariat will be established in the coming days to support the Parliamentary Forum,” said Rajendra Pal Gautam, chairman of the Congress’s SC department.

The Congress has also stepped up its attack on the BJP government in Uttarakhand, demanding action against those involved in the purification ritual at the Haldwani venue.

Kharge, who belongs to the Dalit community, addressed a Congress rally at Haldwani’s Ramlila Maidan on 8 August. The Congress has alleged that BJP activists subsequently performed a purification ritual at the stage where Kharge had spoken, triggering a political row over caste discrimination. 

Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has also addressed a special conference on the issue, demanding justice for Kharge. Kharge subsequently raised the matter in Parliament and wrote to BJP president J.P. Nadda, seeking action against those responsible.

'This issue goes beyond me personally or my position as the President of the Indian National Congress; it is connected on a broader level to the sentiments of crores of people who continue to face this cruel reality every day. It is necessary to teach a lesson to such wrongdoers,' Kharge said in the letter.

As part of the strategy, the Congress has now taken the campaign to Punjab, where Punjab Congress campaign committee chairperson and former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi led a protest in Jalandhar against what he described as the “Manuvadi mindset” of the RSS and BJP.

Channi, who is a Dalit leader, alleged that the incident reflected caste-based discrimination, claiming that the stage was treated as “contaminated” because Kharge had stood on it.

“We have staged a protest against the mindset of the RSS and the BJP, specifically regarding the incident where the stage was ‘purified’ after Mallikarjun Kharge had stepped onto it,” Channi said, demanding registration of an FIR against those responsible.

It is worth mentioning here that the Punjab has the highest Scheduled Caste population among Indian states, at around 32 per cent, making Dalit voters a significant constituency in the state’s electoral politics.

The Congress has simultaneously intensified its agitation in Uttarakhand. Party workers staged a large demonstration in Dehradun and marched from Parade Ground towards chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s residence, raising slogans against the BJP government and demanding action in the Haldwani case.

Uttarakhand Congress in-charge Kumari Selja accused the BJP government of shielding those responsible and demanded registration of an FIR. Seeking to link the controversy to the 2027 Assembly elections, she said: “In 2027, the Dhami government will be thrown out of power.”

The coordinated protests and the formation of a parliamentary forum underline the Congress’s attempt to take the Haldwani controversy beyond Uttarakhand and turn it into a broader issue of caste dignity, social justice and constitutional equality.

With Punjab and Uttarakhand heading for Assembly polls next year, the party is seeking to consolidate its support among Dalits while putting the BJP on the defensive over allegations of caste discrimination.