Mallikarjun Kharge summoned by Punjab court over Congress’s Karnataka poll promise

Mangalore Today News Network / NDTV

New Delhi, May 15, 2023: A Punjab court today summoned Congress party chief Mallikarjun Kharge in a ₹ 100 core defamation related to the party equating the banned Islamic outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) with Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of the Sangh-affiliated Vishwa Hindu Parishad, in its Karnataka Assembly election manifesto.

 

The Sangrur district court summoned the Congress President after a complaint from Hitesh Bhardwaj, the president of an outfit called "Bajrang Dal Hindustan."

During the recently-concluded Karnataka assembly elections, the Congress in its manifesto compared Bajrang Dal with anti-national organisations like SIMI and Al Qaeda, the petitioner said.

Naming the Bajrang Dal, the Congress in its manifesto promised to ban organisations that promote "enmity or hatred, whether among majority or minority communities".

"The Congress Party is committed to take firm and decisive action against individuals and organisations spreading hatred amongst communities on grounds of caste or religion. We believe that law and Constitution is sacrosanct and can not be violated by individuals and Organisations like Bajrang Dal, PFI or others promoting enmity or hatred, whether among majority or minority communities," the Congress manifesto, called ’Sarva Janangada Shanthiya Thota’ (peaceful garden of all communities), read, adding that the party, if voted to power in the state, will take ’decisive action’ as per law, including imposing a ban on them.