An FIR has been registered against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi following a complaint by a member of the Valmiki community, who alleged that Gandhi’s remarks on a religious ritual in Haldwani gave the incident a casteist angle.Police said the FIR invokes provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita concerning promotion of enmity between groups and deliberate acts intended to outrage religious feelings. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, has also been invoked.Amit Kumar, a resident of Jawahar Nagar and member of the Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas, filed the complaint at Haldwani police station. He said he was present during the “ritual and cleanliness drive” and that Gandhi’s remarks at a press conference in Delhi on August 29 hurt community sentiments.Kumar accused Gandhi of portraying those involved as practising “untouchability” and being “anti-Dalit”. He claimed people from different sections, including Scheduled Castes, had participated in the ritual, which, he said, had “no connection” with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s caste.The controversy began after a ‘purification yajna’ was allegedly held at Haldwani’s Ramlila Ground on August 11, days after Kharge’s August 8 public meeting there.Gandhi had criticised the incident and sought an FIR under the SC/ST Act against those responsible. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra later backed the demand, calling it a “reprehensible and shameful mindset” and alleging an SC/ST Act violation.