Mangaluru: The Dakshina Kannada District Congress Committee staged a protest in Mangaluru on Friday against the alleged caste-based discrimination involving Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Uttarakhand, where a ‘purification’ ritual was reportedly conducted at the Ramlila Maidan in Haldwani after he addressed a public meeting there.

The protest was held at 6 p.m. near the Mahatma Gandhi statue in front of the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) office at Lalbagh. Congress leaders and workers raised slogans against the BJP and strongly condemned the alleged act, terming it an insult to Kharge and a reflection of caste discrimination.

The protest followed reports that members of the Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas conducted a havan and ‘shuddhikaran’ ritual at Haldwani’s Ramlila Maidan on August 10, two days after Kharge addressed a public rally there.

Kharge later raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha, saying the incident had made him feel the pain of untouchability and humiliation. BJP leader and Union Minister J.P. Nadda termed the incident unfortunate and assured the House that the matter would be investigated, while maintaining that the BJP does not support such activities.

Addressing the protest in Mangaluru, former minister B. Ramanath Rai, former MLA J.R. Lobo and KPCC general secretary Mithun Rai were among those who participated.

Others present included Shashidhar Hegde, Shalet Pinto, Mamatha Gatti, Lavanya Ballal, Prakash Salian, Vishwas Kumar Das, S. Appi, Naveen D'Souza, Keshav Maroli, Neeraj Chandrapal, Bhaskar K., Prem Ballal, Shubhodaya Alva, T.K. Sudheer, Vikas Shetty, Shabir S., Suhail Kandaka, Ramananda Poojary, Basheer Adyar, Suhan Alva, Chandrakala Jogi, A.C. Vinamraj, Sabitha Miskith, Nagaveni, Kavitha Vasu, Sarika Poojary, Nancy, Satish Pengal, Tanveer Shah, Padmanabha Amin, Souhan S.K. and Shanthala Gatti, among others.