DEHRADUN: A fierce political controversy erupted in Uttarakhand after a right-wing group performed a hawan for the “suddhikaran” (purification) of Haldwani’s Ram Lila Ground, two days after Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a public rally at the venue.Members of Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas Sangathan conducted the ritual on Aug 10, objecting to the venue’s use for political purposes and alleging that controversial slogans were raised during Kharge’s Aug 8 address.Girsh Chandra Pandey, a member of the organisation, defended the ritual, stating that the venue holds religious significance and should be reserved strictly for cultural events. “Ram Lila Ground is meant for religious and cultural events and should not be given to political parties,” Pandey said, adding that certain slogans raised during the rally “sounded like Islamic slogans.” He also referenced Kharge’s past remarks targeting BJP and RSS.The incident drew sharp criticism from Congress state president Ganesh Godiyal, who termed the purification ritual a direct insult to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community and accused the ruling BJP of orchestrating the event.Godiyal questioned police’s neutrality, targeting Nainital SSP T C Manjunath for failing to take action against those involved in the ritual, while police had actively restrained Congress workers during the rally. “The act was carried out at BJP’s behest,” Godiyal said.Denying any connection to the organisers of the ritual, BJP cabinet minister and state spokesperson Khajan Das dismissed the allegations as “baseless, false, and misleading.”Das countered by criticising the conduct at the Congress rally, asserting that political sloganeering at Ram Lila Ground has hurt Sanatan sentiments. He accused the opposition of attempting to divert attention from the controversial slogans by stoking caste-based divisions.