Kharge ‘purification’ row: Rahul Gandhi calls for FIR, BJP leaders push back

Kharge 'purification' row: Rahul Gandhi calls for FIR, BJP leaders push back Don't malign Uttarakhand, no BJP or RSS role, this was cleaning up litter: MoS Tamta.

Key points

• 5 min read New Delhi Aug 30, 2026 01: 56 AM IST First published on: Aug 29, 2026 at 07: 35 PM IST.
• Two days after Kharge's August 8 rally, the organisation Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas performed a "shuddhikaran hawan" at Ramlila Maidan on August 10.
• Echoing Dhami, Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Ajay Tamta, himself a Dalit leader and Almora MP, rejected Gandhi's allegations.
• Uttarakhand BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Mahendra Bhatt had lately triggered a controversy after he defended the "purification" ceremony at Haldwani.
• Calling the act a "crime, " Gandhi remarked, at a press conference Saturday, that it illustrated the "untouchability" Dalits face throughout India and exposed the "BJP-RSS mindset."

Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi spoke regarding a recent incident related to Congress chief Malikarjun Kharge, in which a purification ritual was allegedly performed after he addressed a gathering in Haldwani. (PTI/ Screegrab). Written by: Asad Rehman, Vikas Pathak, Lalmani Verma.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi pressed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order an FIR over a " shuddhikaran hawan (purification)" ceremony held at Ramlila Maidan in Haldwani in Uttarakhand staged days after a rally there by Congress president and Dalit leader Mallikarjun Kharge. Calling the act a "crime, " Gandhi remarked, at a press conference Saturday, that it illustrated the "untouchability" Dalits face throughout India and exposed the "BJP-RSS mindset."

His remarks drew a sharp response from Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami. This person remarked the Congress was a "mudda viheen" (issue-less) party and that those who conducted the hawan were not BJP workers. According to Dhami, the ceremony was a religious organisation's protest against littering and against slogans raised by "people of a particular religion" at a ground applied for staging Ramlila.

"Uttarakhand me koi nahi jaanta ki Kharge ji ki jaati kya hai (Nobody in Uttarakhand knows what Kharge ji's caste is), " Dhami remarked, speaking to reporters in Haldwani. He continued Kharge was a respected senior leader who had worked alongside Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani. "How can Uttarakhand individuals insult anybody? Uttarakhand individuals have accepted everyone. Uttarakhand individuals always provide priority to nationalism, " he noted.

Gandhi's attack comes as caste and reservations have become a flashpoint. The Congress had long demanded a caste census. It the Modi administration eventually agreed to conduct; meanwhile, the UGC's equity regulations – though stayed by the Supreme Court earlier this year – have stirred resentment among sections of the upper castes. Gandhi additionally lately took aim at the Manusmriti at an event in Pune, where he pressed girl students to "smash patriarchy, " drawing counter-attacks from BJP leaders.

Seeking justice for Kharge, Gandhi framed the episode as part of a larger battle: "two ideologies fighting in the country, the Constitution of India and that of the BJP-RSS." He argued that Dalits have endured violence for centuries despite constitutional protections, citing everyday humiliations. "In schools, Dalit children are created to clean toilets and sweep. Dalits are not allowed to drink water from wells. At tea stalls, there are two types of cups. During baraats, which should be a happy occasion, thousands of Dalits have to wear helmets when they climb the horse. This is the reality of UP, India and north India. You can see it in cities and villages, " the LoP remarked.

Drawing a parallel, Gandhi observed that a temple visited by Rajasthan LoP Tika Ram Jully was similarly "purified, " as was a temple visited by NDA ally and former Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi. "Who does this? It is BJP-RSS individuals, " he stated. "We are calling it 'purification, ' but this is untouchability. They are saying Dalits should not be touched and that they are dirty."

He informed The Indian Express that religious sloganeering from "people of the minority community" had occurred during Kharge's rally, and that the ground. It regularly hosts yajnas and pujas, does not belong to the BJP. The clean-up, he remarked, was ordered not by the administration but by a religious organisation responding to littering at the event, a routine practice at Ramlila grounds. "In Uttarakhand, in Ram Lilas, all characters are played by people of all religions, " Tamta continued. "Rahul ji, don't try to malign Uttarakhand like this."

Gandhi reiterated that the Congress wants an FIR filed under the SC/ST Act against those responsible for the Haldwani ceremony. "The PM says he is for all castes, and his state president is saying the 'purification' was right, " he remarked.

Asked regarding Kharge's noted disappointment that some Congress leaders hadn't openly condemned the incident, Gandhi clarified: "He didn't say that the vast majority of Congress individuals didn't backing him. I backed him. A number of other residents did too." He added that the issue extends beyond Kharge to every Dalit: "If the Congress president can face this openly, then imagine what happens in school with a four-year-old child." On the silence from the PM and BSP chief Mayawati, Gandhi said he had "no interest" in it, adding: "Our interest is in illegality."

Two days after Kharge's August 8 rally, the organisation Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas performed a "shuddhikaran hawan" at Ramlila Maidan on August 10. Its president, Girish Chandra Pandey, denied any BJP or RSS affiliation, telling The Indian Express that the ceremony responded to hurt Hindu sentiments both over Kharge's description of the RSS and BJP as a "venomous snake" during the Assam election campaign, and over the employ of the "Hindu cultural site" for political purposes.

Pandey remarked four Dalits took part in the hawan, and that he had founded the organisation three months earlier to promote religious and social awareness.

Ankit Pal, a member of the Ram Teerth Nyas of Haldwani. This person identified himself as Dalit, remarked, in an official note, that he was present during the ceremony: "Whatever was done by us was for cleaning the place. The stage was dirty. There was urine on the stage. After cleaning the place, a hawan was done. There was no discrimination against any caste."

Taken together, the developments around kharge ‘ purification’ row: Rahul Gandhi calls for FIR, BJP leaders push back point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.