Fearing vote loss, Congress vows programmes around Hanuman

New Delhi: In a damage control move after the uproar over its plans to ban Bajrang Dal, the Congress on Thursday said that it will develop a separate authority to develop the Anjanadri Hill, believed to be the birthplace of Lord Hanuman.

While speaking to the media in Mysuru, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar clarified that he was as much a devotee of Bajrang Bali (Lord Hanuman) as anyone else and put Hanuman tilak.

“Is there not a difference between Bajrang Bali and Bajrang Dal,” he asked in a bid to clear the air and lob the issue at the doorstep of the BJP for what he called use of the Lord’s name for political gains.

The KPCC chief maintained that there had been historical evidence to show Lord Hanuman was born in Karnataka as he sought to make it clear to members of the Hindu community that the Congress regime will develop the religious place in Vijayanagar district.

The Congress party will also hold exclusive programmes on Lord Hanuman targeting the youth and to spread the value system the Lord stood for.

The Congress leader further said that Bajrang Dal was an arm of a political party indulging in moral policing. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, which has not built a single temple of Hanuman, are trying to use the Lord’s name for political gains, he said.

Congress leader Siddaramaiah wondered why his party’s manifesto promising to deal firmly with organisations that cause communal trouble should hurt the BJP.

However, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai hit back at Shivakumar saying that the relationship between the Bajrang Dal and Hanuman was the same as the one between Lord Ram and Hanuman. The Congress was trying to hurt the sentiments of people, he told reporters at Hubballi.