The Hindutva organisation Bajrang Sena merged with Congress in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, raising the political temperature in the state months before the upcoming legislative election. The former alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party had strayed from the right path and had cheated the electorate to gain power in the state.
The merger took place during an event on Tuesday evening at the Congress state office in Bhopal, in the presence of the president of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee and former chief minister Kamal Nath. He was presented with a mace and other mementoes by Bajrang Sena members, who also raised “Jai Shriram” slogans on the occasion.
A Bhagwa (saffron) rally was held beforehand, with hundreds of young people wearing saffron scarves and waving saffron flags in attendance. Some of them even performed traditional martial art forms to the sounds of drums.
The union of the outfit with the Congress is credited to Deepak Joshi, a former minister who last month defected from the BJP to join the Congress. He reportedly shares a tight relationship with the leaders of the right-wing group.
Bajrang Sena was founded in Chhatarpur in 2013. Raghunandan Sharma, the outfit’s convener, is a founding member of the BJP and has ties to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The group has a history of supporting the BJP and has been actively involved in cow protection as well as efforts to “unify Hindus by breaking the caste system.” It is also known for protesting on religious and social issues.
The Bajrang Sena’s national president Ranveer Pateria and coordinator Raghunandan Sharma announced the merger in the presence of Deepak Joshi.
According to the former, they have embraced the political philosophy of the Congress as well as the viewpoints of the state party chief wholeheartedly.
Additionally, he stated that they were dedicated to overthrowing the BJP administration, which is known for its treachery, lying, and dishonesty, and establishing a Congress government led by Kamal Nath through the 2023 assembly elections.
Notably, Congress, which is currently cosying up to Bajrang Dal, has a long history of vehemently opposing Hindu nationalist organisations. The party went so far as to pledge to outlaw the Bajrang Dal in their election manifesto during the recent Karnataka assembly election. It attempted damage control with the aid of its senior leaders, including former Karnataka chief minister M. Veerappa Moily and incumbent state party head and deputy chief minister D. K. Shivakumar, after the move resulted in a significant backlash.
Bajrang Dal and the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) also delivered a defamation notice to Congress for associating Bajrang Dal with banned terrorist groups and sought Rs. 100 crores in damages.
However, days, after the Congress government was formed in Karnataka, Priyank Kharge, the son of the national president of the Indian National Congress Mallikarjun Kharge and Minister for Social Welfare in the state cabinet, sparked controversy yet again by equating the RSS and Bajrang Dal with the PFI and threatened to ban the two Hindu outfits in the state.
Afterwards, chief minister Siddaramaiah rubbished the claim and clarified that any outfit disrupting social peace and harmony will face harsh punishment and pointed out that the party had not discussed outlawing RSS.
Following that, K Venkatesh, the minister of animal husbandry and veterinary sciences, made a comment about ‘reviewing’ the anti-cow slaughter law brought in by the previous BJP government and legalising the same. He mentioned that the government will discuss it. “If a buffalo can be slaughtered, why not cows,” he argued.
The minister claimed that farmers struggle with the maintenance of old livestock and the disposal of the dead in an effort to further support his assertion. One of the cows that just passed away at his property, he alleged, was difficult to dispose of.
However, senior Congress leader and Minister for Transport Ramalinga Reddy issued a different statement on the matter. He remarked, “The creator has given no rights to anyone to take life. I am against the killing of any animal. Every animal has a right to life,” while addressing reporters. He also proclaimed that he will share his opinion in the cabinet meeting as well.
Interestingly, on May 23, the newly elected Congress Government in Karnataka received a list of anti-Hindu demands from Amnesty India, a dubious outfit that shut down its office in India when multiple authorities started looking into it for possible Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) breaches.
The Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, 2020, was also the subject of a review appeal from the group which called on the administration to permit cow slaughter.
