Comparing Bajrang Dal with PFI is insult to Hindus: BJP leader

New Delhi [India], May 3 : United Hindu Front working president and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jai Bhagwan Goyal on Wednesday said the Congress party's alleged comparison of Bajrang Dal with the banned outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) was an insult to Hindus.
Goyal's remarks came in the wake of Congress' manifesto for the May 10 Assembly elections in Karnataka, wherein the party bracketed outlawed Popular Front of India (PFI) and Bajrang Dal together and stated it would ban the organisations once it is voted to power.
Goyal said that Bajrang Dal works to bring awarness among Hindus and talks about 'Ram Rajya'.
He said, "Recitation of Hanuman Chalisa is being done at various places. As a result, Hindus are getting attracted to the BJP. Because of this, Congress is deliberately linking the name of Bajrang Dal with a terrorist organization like PFI just to appease the Muslim voters in view of its bad condition in Karnataka elections."
Effigies of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi were burnt by United Hindu Front workers in Delhi's Karawal Nagar.
Addressing the workers, Goyal said, "Congress has always indulged in Muslim appeasement. Due to appeasement politics, Congress had raised questions on the construction of the Ram Temple and the existence of Ram Setu. Senior Congress leader and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had declared from the Red Fort during his prime ministership itself that Muslims have the first right to all the government facilities in the country."
"Other Congress leaders addressed the mastermind of the Kandahar incident Maulana Masood Azhar as Masood Saheb and addressed the world's most wanted terrorist as Bin Laden ji. Calling Bajrang Dal a terrorist organization will not go well for Congress in the coming elections," he added.
The Congress in its Karnataka election manifesto, released last week, said it will take "decisive action" as per law including banning organisations like Bajrang Dal, the Popular Front of India and others.
"The Congress party is committed to taking firm and decisive action against individuals and organisations spreading hatred against communities on the grounds of caste and religion," read the Congress manifesto.
"We believe that law and Constitution are sacrosanct and cannot be violated by individuals and Organisations like Bajrang Dal, PFI or others promoting enmity or hatred, whether among majority or minority communities," it added.
Notably, this has triggered outrage against the party, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who on Tuesday said that this "decisive" decision by the party was an attempt to lock up those who worship Lord Hanuman.
Karnataka will go to Assembly polls on May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13.