Archive · 14 Aug 2026
Kerala CM slams BJP over stage purification after Kharge speech
After a very important leader gave a speech, some people reportedly did a special ceremony to 'purify' the stage where he had stood.
The leader was Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the Congress party, who spoke at Ramlila Maidan in Haldwani, Uttarakhand on August 8.
Purifying a place after a Dalit leader has been there is seen as a form of untouchability and is very disrespectful.
Kerala Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan strongly condemned the act and called it shameful, undemocratic, and an insult to the country's constitutional values of equality and dignity.
He said Dalits have shaped India's history, strengthened its democracy, and built the nation through generations of struggle and sacrifice.
He said the BJP and the Sangh Parivar cannot erase the Dalit community's contribution no matter how they try to rewrite history.
Mr. Kharge raised the matter in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India's parliament.
He alleged that people associated with the BJP carried out the purification and demanded that cases be registered under the Untouchability Act.
He also demanded that those responsible be arrested and sent to jail.
Kerala Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan condemned the alleged purification of the stage at Ramlila Maidan in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, where Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge spoke on August 8.
Satheesan called the act a 'reprehensible act' that insults not just an individual but the constitutional values of equality and dignity, and termed it shameful and undemocratic.
He said Dalits have shaped India's history and strengthened its democracy, and that the BJP and Sangh Parivar cannot erase their contribution by rewriting history.
Kharge alleged in the Rajya Sabha that people associated with the BJP performed a 'Homa' ritual to purify the stage because he is from the Dalit community.
Kharge demanded that cases be registered under the Untouchability Act against those responsible and that they be arrested and sent to jail.
- Who
- Kerala Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge
- What
- Alleged 'purification' of the stage at Ramlila Maidan where Kharge had spoken, condemned as an insult to constitutional values of equality and dignity
- When
- Kharge's speech on August 8; Satheesan's condemnation on Thursday, August 13
- Where
- Ramlila Maidan in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, with the issue also raised in the Rajya Sabha
- Why
- The act was seen as an insult to Kharge, who is from the Dalit community, and as caste-based discrimination contrary to constitutional values
- Alleged incident
- 'Homa' ritual to 'purify' a stage after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge spoke
- Location
- Ramlila Maidan, Haldwani, Uttarakhand
- Kharge's speech date
- August 8
- Condemnation date
- Thursday, August 13
- Condemning official
- Kerala Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan
- Kharge's roles
- Congress president and Rajya Sabha Opposition Leader
- Allegation (per Kharge)
- People associated with the BJP carried out the purification
- Demand
- Cases under the Untouchability Act; arrest and jail for those responsible
