India, Aug. 31 -- On August 8, Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a Congress rally at the Ramlila Ground in Haldwani. After the meeting, members of a Hindutva organisation conducted a shuddhikaran yagna at the venue. The organisers said the ground had been left littered and needed to be cleaned. The Congress president is a Dalit. The ritual's chosen word was purification.

Rahul Gandhi called the ritual another name for untouchability and demanded an FIR under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The Uttarakhand BJP president defended the ceremony, saying the venue had been polluted by slogans and had to be purified. On August 31, a case was registered against Rahul Gandhi himself, on the complaint of Amit Kumar, an office-bearer of the Sh...