India, Aug. 29 -- Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has alleged that the "deeply entrenched, discriminatory mindset of the BJP's leadership and ideology" was behind the alleged 'shuddhikaran' (purification) ritual performed at Ramlila Maidan in Haldwani following party president Mallikarjun Kharge's visit.

"The root cause is BJP's Ideology: Excuses, regret, or semantic deflections cannot mask the underlying problem. This incident reflects the deeply entrenched, discriminatory mindset of the BJP's leadership and ideology. We must not allow those responsible to evade accountability," Tharoor said in a statement on X.

Tharoor said the incident was not merely a political dispute, arguing that it had wider implications for Dalit citizens.

"This is...