A fresh political clash has erupted between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress after the Bengaluru Police registered a Zero FIR against Uttarakhand BJP chief Mahendra Bhatt and other party members over an alleged “purification ritual” conducted in Haldwani.
The controversy is linked with a public rally organized by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at Ramlila Ground in Haldwani, which is located in Uttarakhand's Nainital region. The complaint says a ritual called “Shuddhikaran” was carried out at the venue after Kharge addressed the gathering.
The Zero FIR registration has triggered sharp reactions from BJP leaders who say the Congress is trying to provoke a controversy around an incident that they claim never happened; the latter is not true.
The complaint was registered at Vidhana Soudha Police Station in Bengaluru after a complaint by TR Ramappa, a former vice-chairman of the Scheduled Tribes Department cell of the Adivasi Congress.
According to the complaint, Mallikarjun Kharge made a speech at Ramlila Ground on August 8. Ramappa alleged that local BJP functionaries later organized a ritualistic cleansing at the same place.
The complainant argued that the alleged ritual promoted a casteist belief that the ground had become “impure” after Kharge’s presence. Kharge is also the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha and belongs to a Scheduled Caste community.
The allegations have added an element of sensitivity to the caste-based political debate when the Congress seeks to take action against those who were involved in or supported the reported ritual.
BJP Launches Counterattack
Consequently, BJP leader Ram Kadam strongly took up the Zero FIR and accused the Congress of misleading the public and trying to create a political controversy by manufacturing a political controversy to make it into a national debate.
Kadam said the Congress should be referred to as a “party of leaders who lie,” and that the opposition party was trying to sow confusion about what he described as an incident that never actually happened.
He also questioned the timing of the FIR and accused the Congress of using its position in Karnataka to ensure that the issue returned to the political spotlight.
Kadam said the public will not believe what he described as repeated attempts to create controversy with false allegations.
Telangana BJP president Ramchander Rao also criticized the Congress over the development. The party is reviving an old controversy and attempting to mislead people on the purification ritual, he said.
Rao claimed that several BJP leaders had already denied the allegations and argued that the Congress was turning what he called a “non-issue” into a major political controversy.
He also accused the Congress of playing divisive politics by continuing to raise the matter despite the BJP denying that it does so.
Mahendra Bhatt and others named
Uttarakhand BJP chief Mahendra Bhatt and others of the party are named in the complaint. They were included in the complaint for allegedly defending or endorsing the ritual through public statements made to the media.
The complainant said that such statements could be seen as public or official support of an allegedly discriminatory act.
The Zero FIR has been registered under provisions of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The matter will be transferred to the police authorities with territorial jurisdiction in Uttarakhand for further investigation.
#WATCH | Mumbai: On Bengaluru Police register zero FIR against Uttarakhand BJP leaders over alleged 'purification'issue, BJP leader Ram Kadam says, "The Congress party should be renamed the 'Party of leaders who lie'... it would suit them perfectly on moral grounds. They are… pic.twitter.com/LviExWqHdw
— ANI (@ANI) September 5, 2026
What is a Zero FIR?
A Zero FIR allows a complaint involving a cognisable offence to be registered at a police station even when the alleged incident took place outside that police station's territorial jurisdiction.
After registration, the case can be transferred to the police station or investigating agency of the area of the alleged offence.
In this case, as the alleged incident occurred in Haldwani, the complaint registered in Bengaluru is expected to be forwarded to the concerned authorities in Uttarakhand.
According to the police, the FIR was registered after legal opinion was sought regarding the written complaint, which had been submitted on August 31.
Kharge Raises the Issue
The development also comes after Mallikarjun Kharge has expressed concerns about the absence of an FIR in connection with the alleged incident.
Kharge wrote to Rajya Sabha Chairman J P Nadda, saying that no FIR had been registered over the purification ritual even 24 days after the incident. His letter apparently referred to an earlier assurance given about the matter.
The Congress has maintained that the alleged ritual is indeed a serious issue and it has pleaded for accountability within laws that would prohibit caste-based discrimination and atrocities.
Even now, however, the BJP has denied allegations of a conspiracy and accused the Congress of using the controversy for political gain.
Political Row to Continue.
The Zero FIR has now given the Haldwani controversy a new political dimension, with the BJP and Congress presenting sharply different versions of events.
For the Congress, the alleged “Shuddhikaran” ritual has become linked to caste discrimination and the dignity of a senior Scheduled Caste leader. For the BJP, the case has become another example of what it calls politically motivated allegations by the Congress.
The transfer of the Zero FIR to Uttarakhand and any future investigation will be closely watched. The controversy is likely to remain a major issue; the two sides will remain in a heated conflict.
As both sides continue to trade accusations, the Haldwani “purification” row has once again shown how caste, politics, and alleged discrimination can quickly become a wider national political debate.
