Gairsain, Oct 28 Attacking the Congress over its protests during the two-day Assembly session that concluded here on Wednesday, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said spreading “anarchy” has become a trend in the opposition party.
On Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s recent “baap” remark targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dhami said, “The citizens of the country love Modi, and he is not going anywhere. He will retain the prime minister’s chair with a bigger victory in 2029.”
Kharge sparked the row at an event in Patna on Sunday, when he said “Modi ka baap bhi jayega” in response to an audience member’s comment that “as long as there is no rebellion, Modi won’t go anywhere”.
“Sometimes they (Congress) protest on the roads or outside the prime minister’s house, using unparliamentary language for his mother and father. It is nothing new, and the whole opposition alliance is like this.
“Rahul Gandhi’s close friend Akhilesh Yadav called the people of Uttarakhand infiltrators, but not a single Congress leader reacted to the remarks,” the chief minister told the media.
“For the Congress, politics is more important compared to the dignity of the residents of Uttarakhand. Akhilesh Yadav is rubbing salt on the wounds of the state’s people, yet the Congress is stitching an alliance with his party,” Dhami said.
Sharpening his attack against Kharge, the chief minister claimed the Congress chief lied about being disrespected for belonging to a certain caste.
“The people of Uttarakhand do not know which caste you (Kharge) belong to… They respect you. How can they perform a cleansing ceremony after your programme?
“A probe into the episode found that the ‘havan’ was conducted because ‘jihadi’ slogans were raised at the Ramlila Maidan (in Haldwani). The probe report revealed that five persons part of the ritual were from the Valmiki community,” Dhami claimed.
The Kharge purification row was triggered after an alleged “shuddhikaran” (purification) ritual performed at the venue of the Congress chief’s rally in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani in August.
The Congress alleged that the ritual was an act of untouchability and caste discrimination, claiming the site was “purified” since Kharge belonged to a Scheduled Caste (SC) community.
Questioning the conduct of the Congress in the Assembly, Dhami said that while everyone has the right to dissent within the House, such opposition must remain within the bounds of democratic norms.
Referring to the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Uttarakhand, the chief minister said the government took a major step toward “ensuring social equality and protecting the rights of women”.
“After we implemented the UCC, the opposition leaders spread lies without any basis, operating a ‘jhoot ki dukaan’ (shop of lies). The Congress tried to spread fear among the residents about the UCC,” Dhami alleged.
The Congress does not want to see the government’s actions uplift the state; it only seeks to do “vote-bank politics” despite people rejecting them, Dhami said.
“When the Uttarakhand Madarsa Education Board Act was implemented under the Congress rule in 2016, only one community was included under the minority category, excluding all others,” Dhami said.
The Uttarakhand Minority Education Bill, 2025, repealed the Madrasa Education Board Act effective July 1, replacing the Madrasa Board with the Uttarakhand State Minority Education Authority for governing all minority educational institutions in the state.
(PTI News)
