On Wednesday, May 3, Karnataka Congress leader and former chief minister M. Veerappa Moily in an apparent damage control move said that it is not possible for the state government to ban Bajrang Dal, adding that there is no proposal to ban the group.
“We have PFI and Bajrang Dal mentioned in our (Congress) manifesto and included all radical outfits. However, banning an outfit is not possible for the state government as it is the central government’s jurisdiction. So a ban on Bajrang Dal by the Karnataka government is not possible. DK Shivakumar will come up with more clarity on this,” Moily said while addressing the media in Udupi.
The former Karnataka CM also said that the Congress promised action against outfits like Bajrang Dal in the manifesto in the backdrop of the recent Supreme Court observation against hate politics.
It is notable that on April 28, the Supreme Court directed the states and union territories to take suo motu action to register FIR against hate speeches without waiting for a formal complaint.
Interestingly, the Congress party invited severe backlash by promising to “ban organisations like Bajrang Dal” in its election manifesto for Karnataka.
While Congress says that it will act against organizations spreading hatred, the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI)—the political wing of the now-banned PFI announced on Wednesday that it will be contesting only 16 Assembly seats in the upcoming Karnataka elections in a bid to help Congress defeat the BJP. Initially, the SDPI had said that it will be contesting on 100 seats.