Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday said that his party will not Bajrang Dal if it comes to power in the upcoming state elections, but “goons” and rioters will not be spared, reports The Indian Express.
Bajrang Dal is the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad.
Speaking to reporters, Digvijaya Singh said, “Bajrang Dal is a group of goons and anti-social elements… This country belongs to all, so Modi ji (PM Narendra Modi) and Shivraj ji (MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan) stop dividing the country. Establish peace in the country which will lead to development.”
Asked whether the Congress will ban Bajrang Dal if the party gets elected to power, the Rajya Sabha member said, “We will not ban. There may be some good people in Bajrang Dal. But, those who are goons and involved in rioting will not be spared.”
The former CM also defended Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath over the latter’s comments on “Hindu Rashtra”, saying that his comments were misrepresented.
Nath, on August 8, responding to a question on spiritual preacher Dhirendra Shastri’s purported demand to make India a Hindu Rashtra, had said, “World’s largest Hindu population lives in our country. 82 per cent of Hindus reside here. It is not a debatable issue. It is not something to be told. These are statistics…What is the need to say it separately?”
Singh said, “You people have misrepresented Nath’s statement. He never said what you people and the BJP are saying. I want to ask the BJP, PM, Home Minister, CM whether they have taken oath of the Constitution or of Hindu Rashtra?”
Interestingly, ahead of the Karnataka elections, the Congress, in its manifesto had proposed a ban on Bajrang Dal. The party won the polls in May bagging 135 seats in the 224-member Assembly, crossing the magic figure of 113.
However, after the elections, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara had said that the Congress government will move towards banning the Bajrang Dal only if the organisation takes the law into its own hands.
“In the manifesto, we had said regarding Bajrang Dal and PFI — that in case they disturb peace, we will take action against them, even going to the extent of banning them if the need arises,” Parameshwara had said.