The party also raises the issue of Bajrang Dal leader Balram Singh who was arrested from Satna district of MP in connection with a terror-funding case and BJYM leader Dhruv Saxena. They were released on bail afterward, though.
Amit Bishnoi
New Delhi/Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chanted Jai Bajrang Bali at an election rally in Bengaluru on Wednesday. The chant was against one of the promises in the Congress manifesto – banning organizations like Bajrang Dal and Popular Front of India (PFI) – for they cause social instability in the name of religion.
Since a Hindu outfit, Bajrang Dal, is associated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Prime Minister is trying to polarise Hindu voters in the name of religion, but he kept mum over issues like rising unemployment and corruption.
Modi, known for setting a narrative, is using the proposed ban on Bajrang Dal to the hilt. There are several issues in the manifesto.
Earlier, Modi tried to raise the issue of venomous snake comment by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, but it did not evoke any desired outcome. Ergo, he has begun to raise the religious issue.
About the proposed ban on Bajrang Dal, BJP leaders said its members were nationalists who fought against terrorism.
On the contrary, the BJP leaders maintained a studied silence when the Anti-Terror Squad arrested five persons from Satna district in Madhya Pradesh in connection with a terror-funding case. One of the arrested accused was a Bajrang Dal leader Balram Singh.
They were found to have communicated with their handlers using an app which did not keep any records of the message the group had sent. The incident stole limelight in Madhya Pradesh as well as in different places in the country.
Similarly, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) leader Dhruv Saxena was arrested in connection with espionage and terror-funding. He got bail.
Immediately after the arrests, the former chief minister twitted: “BJP leaders arrested for spying for Pakistan’s ISI should get a strict punishment under the NSA (National Security Act). Shame on you Shivraj. Your disciples turned out to be Pakistani agents and you tried to get them out on bail. Who is the traitor.”
Since the BJP was under fire over the issue, its leaders, as usual, kept mum. Only Deepak Vijayvargiya said the Congress should not do politics on terrorism-related cases.
All those cases were within the ambit of law and it was the court that released on bail, Vijayvargiya said.
The Karnataka Congress reacted sharply to the Prime Minister’s statement. They said Modi and his party were refusing to talk about the corruption-ridden BJP government.
The party said that the Constitution prescribes action against any individual and organisation spreading hatred or enmity.
Nonetheless, the BJP, which is batting on a sticky wicket in Karnataka, was trying to pick up any issue that would generate public sentiments against the Congress. They finally got one.
