Congress protests across states over Kharge venue ‘purification’

The Congress party held protests in Kalyan and across Andhra Pradesh on Friday, alleging caste discrimination after a rally venue in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, was reportedly 'purified' following a public meeting addressed by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. In Kalyan, workers performed a milk abhishek on Kharge's portrait and submitted a memorandum at the Tehsil office demanding an impartial probe and legal action. Andhra Pradesh Congress leaders burnt effigies of the RSS and demanded cases under the SC/ST Act.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami accused the Congress of divisive caste politics, stating that voluntary organisations cleaned the site as a protest against provocative slogans and litter left after the rally. Congress state spokesperson Garima Mahara Dasauni countered that the BJP should condemn the purification act rather than accuse the Congress. Telangana Today reports that the APCC vice president Kolanukonda Sivaji also criticised the BJP's silence on the matter.