Congress, NCP actual 'Dharma Sansad' organisers: BJP

A day after religious leader Kalicharan Maharaj was arrested and charged with sedition for allegedly abusing Mahatma Gandhi, the BJP on Friday said that the actual organisers of the 'Dharma Sansad' (religious congregation) at Raipur were Congress and NCP leaders.

Former Chhattisgarh minister and senior BJP leader Brijmohan Agarwal told IANS that all the organisers are associated Congressmen and some are accorded ministerial status in the state.

"Former Congress MLA and Chairman of Chhattisgarh Gau Seva Ayog, Mahant Ram Sundar Das was one of the organisers. Das is accorded the status of minister by the Congress government. Pramod Dubey is chairman of Raipur Municipal Corporation and Vikash Upadhyay is parliamentary secretary. All the key people are Congressmen. They tried to counter BJP's Hindutva by organising such an event but it backfired," Agarwal said.

In-charge of BJP's national Information and Technology Department Amit Malviya too made similar claims.

"The Dharma Sansad at Raipur is making news and the usual suspects, like always, are maligning the BJP and other Hindu organisations. But who is the actual organiser? Neelkanth Tripathi, state president of NCP Chhattisgarh. You see it is convenient to cloak bigotry in secularism!," Malviya tweeted.

The Dharma Sansad at Raipur is making news and the usual suspects, like always, are maligning the BJP and other Hindu organisations. But who is the actual organiser? Neelkanth Tripathi, state president of NCP Chattisgarh!

You see it is convenient to cloak bigotry in secularism! pic.twitter.com/ZIwZr09zZH

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) December 31, 2021

The arrest of Kalicharan Maharaj from Madhya Pradesh has triggered a political war of words between the ruling parties in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra had accused the Congress-led Chhattisgarh government of "breaching inter-state protocol."

Mishra has also directed Madhya Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Vivek Johri to speak with Chhattisgarh DGP on the matter of breach of inter-state protocol.

On Thursday, Kalicharan was arrested by a team of Chhattisgarh Police from Madhya Pradesh's Khajuraho and taken to Raipur. Kalicharan was arrested on the complaint filed by Congress leader Dubey, who had also attended the Dharma Sansad.

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