Bengaluru (PTI): Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal activists staged protests in several parts of the state on Thursday against the Congress election manifesto which proposed banning of the latter in the event of the party coming to power in Karnataka.

At some places, "Hanuman Chalisa" were also chanted.

The protestors are slated to chant Hanuman Chalisa' on Thursday evening at Hanuman temples or any other temple to protest against the Congress promise.

The protests took place in Bengaluru, Chikkaballapura, Srirangapatna, Mandya and Chikkamagaluru, among others, VHP sources said.

In Srirangapatna, Bajrang Dal activists tore the Congress manifesto and slapped it with slippers to express their outrage.

Bajrang Dal leaders and Hindu religious leaders associated with the VHP have appealed to the people in video messages to come with their family members in great numbers at Hanuman or any other temple to chant 'Hanuman Chalisa' on Thursday evening.

One of the religious heads appealed to the people to come together and "demonstrate the Hindu unity, which should eventually reflect on May 10" (the date of Karnataka Assembly elections).

Hanuman Chalisa is a set of 40 couplets penned by 16th century poet and devotee of Lord Rama, Goswami Tulsidas in 'Awadhi', one of the dialects of Hindi spoken predominantly in Uttar Pradesh.

The Congress in its manifesto for May 10 Assembly elections in Karnataka said it was committed to take firm and decisive action against individuals and organisations spreading hatred amongst communities on grounds of caste and religion.

The Congress said, "We believe that law and Constitution are sacrosanct and cannot be violated by individuals and organisations like Bajrang Dal, PFI or others promoting enmity or hatred, whether among majority or minority communities. We will take decisive action as per law including imposing a ban on such organisations."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his public meeting at Hospet in Vijayanagara district on Tuesday too had come down heavily on the Congress saying, "The Congress in its manifesto has decided to lock up Lord Hanuman. Initially, they locked up Prabhu Shri Ram (Lord Ram). And now they want to lock up people who say Jai Bajrang Bali'."

Modi also made it a point to chant Jai Bajrang Bali' at the beginning and the end of his speech in all the three campaign rallies in Karnataka on Wednesday.

 

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



New Delhi, Jan 11: The BJP on Saturday released its second list featuring 29 candidates for the Delhi Assembly polls, fielding Kapil Mishra, a former AAP leader now identified with hardline Hindutva politics, from Karawal Nagar.

It has fielded Harish Khurana, son of former Delhi chief minister Madan Lal Khurana, from the Moti Nagar constituency.

With the latest announcement, the party has so far named candidates for 58 seats of the 70-member Delhi Assembly.

The elections are scheduled to be held on February 5 and the votes will be counted on February 8.

Mishra, who replaced sitting party MLA Mohan Singh Bisht, made several speeches, denounced as inflammatory by rival parties, just before communal riots broke out in northeast Delhi in February 2020.

Sitting BJP MLA from Laxmi Nagar seat Abhay Verma will seek reelection from the same seat. He won the constituency in 2020 with a narrow margin of just over 800 votes.

Both Mishra and Verma are Purvanchalis. Two other candidates, Bajrang Shukla from Kirari and Pankaj Singh from Vikaspuri, also belong to the same community.

Delhi BJP's Mandir Prakoshth (temple cell) chief Karnail Singh is the party's candidate against sitting AAP MLA and former minister Satyendar Jain at Shakoor Basti seat.

Former Kasturba Nagar MLA Neeraj Basoya, who recently defected to the BJP from Congress, was fielded from the same seat.

Former Delhi BJP general secretary (organisation) Pawan Sharma will contest Uttam Nagar seat that he won in 2013.

Deepti Indora, Matia Mahal, Urmila Kailash Gangwar, Madipur (SC), Shweta Saini, Tilak Nagar, Priyanka Gautam, Kondli (SC), and Neelam Pahalwan from Najafgarh are the party's women candidates so far.

The list features four former MLAs and eight sitting municipal councilors.

Former mayor Shyam Sharma was fielded from the Hari Nagar seat which has a significant number of Sikh voters.

Tickets on remaining 12 tickets will likely be announced soon after discussions on seats like Delhi Cantt, Greater Kailash and Shahdara.

Party sources said former Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi was considered for the Greater Kailash seat, although she was interested in contesting from Delhi Cantt.