New Delhi, Aug. 13 -- Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday, August 13, said the purification ritual performed in Uttarakhand's Haldwani, where he delivered a speech, made him feel the "sting of untouchability" as someone from a Dalit background.

The Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha was speaking in the House when he mentioned the incident, clarifying that he did not wish to turn it into a political issue.

He alleged that people associated with the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) purified the stage at Ramlila Maidan in Uttarakhand where he had made a speech. Kharge demanded that cases should be registered under the Untouchability Act against those who purified the stage in Haldwani, and those involved should be ...