Uttarakhand BJP chief and Rajya Sabha MP Mahendra Bhatt is in real soup after a counter Zero FIR has been lodged against him in Karnataka in connection with the Haldwani Shuddhikaran row, a development that has triggered a full blown political war between Congress and BJP. The controversy dates back to August 8 when Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who belongs to Scheduled Caste community, addressed Congress’s Vijay Shankhnaad rally at Ramlila Maidan in Haldwani, Nainital district. Two days later on August 10, the organization Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas led by its president Girish Chandra Pandey performed a Shuddhikaran hawan at the same venue, claiming the ground, which regularly hosts yajnas and pujas and is considered a Hindu cultural site, had been polluted by political slogans and litter and that Hindu sentiments were hurt after Kharge described RSS and BJP as a venomous snake during Assam campaign. Congress termed the purification ritual as a casteist act implying that the ground had become impure due to Kharge’s presence and therefore an act of untouchability and a crime under the Constitution. What shocked Congress was that Uttarakhand BJP president Mahendra Bhatt came out openly in support and defence of the Shuddhikaran pooja in Haldwani, telling media it was justified and not directed against any individual but against alleged inappropriate sloganeering. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on August 29 and 30 held a press conference in Delhi, demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi order immediate registration of FIR under SC-ST Prevention of Atrocities Act and Protection of Civil Rights Act against those who conducted purification and against Mahendra Bhatt, stating that performing Shuddhikaran is another name for untouchability and that 20 days had passed without action despite Union Minister J P Nadda promising action in Rajya Sabha. Following Rahul’s attack, an FIR was registered against Rahul Gandhi himself on August 30 at Haldwani City Kotwali on complaint of Amit Kumar, office bearer of Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas, alleging his remarks hurt sentiments. In retaliation, a Zero FIR was registered on August 31 and formally on September 4 at Vidhana Soudha Police Station in Bengaluru on complaint of T R Ramappa, former vice chairman of Scheduled Tribes Department cell of Adivasi Congress, naming Mahendra Bhatt and other Uttarakhand BJP functionaries for allegedly publicly defending and endorsing the ritual and lending official sanction to discrimination. Police have booked them under Sections 7(1)(c), 7(1)(d), 7(1)(e) of Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955, Section 3(1)(u) of SC-ST Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989 and Section 196(1)(b) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for promoting enmity, and said the Zero FIR will be transferred to jurisdictional police station in Haldwani for further investigation. Meanwhile Leader of Opposition in Uttarakhand Yashpal Arya on August 31 led Congress workers to Kotwali Haldwani demanding case under SC-ST Act against Mahendra Bhatt and around 15 others and protested FIR against Rahul Gandhi. After Karnataka FIR, Mahendra Bhatt who is now retracting from his earlier statement and trying to distance himself from endorsement is facing pressure as Mallikarjun Kharge himself wrote to Leader of Rajya Sabha on September 4 pointing out that no FIR had been registered in Uttarakhand even 24 days after incident while Karnataka police acted.
