The Congress is expanding its agitation over the alleged ‘shuddhikaran’ (purification) ritual purportedly conducted after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s visit to a rally ground in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, into a nationwide campaign. The party aims to turn the row into a broader narrative of Dalit dignity and social justice ahead of the Assembly elections in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.The party also hopes to galvanise its relatively weak grassroots organisation in Uttarakhand, in contrast to the BJP’s highly organised cadre network, by linking the controversy to a broader regional and national issue.The Uttarakhand Congress, led by general secretary in-charge and Sirsa MP Kumari Selja, organised a march from Dehradun’s Parade Ground to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s residence. In Jalandhar, senior Punjab Congress leaders, including former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, led a protest march.“BJP-RSS elements want to divide the state along social, religious and caste lines, and that is why no FIR has been registered. This so-called ‘shuddhikaran’ is not merely an insult to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, but to the people of Uttarakhand as well. They will never accept such divisive politics,” Selja said.The campaign suggests the Congress intends to project the episode as part of a larger debate on caste discrimination and social justice rather than a local political dispute in the poll-bound states.Political analysts believe the strategy could have significant electoral implications in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, where Dalit voters constitute a decisive voting bloc in many constituencies. Talking to The Tribune, former CM Harish Rawat said the ‘purification’ ceremony indicated the casteist mindset of the BJP. “Instead of apologising, the BJP is defending its action and registered an FIR against Rahul Gandhi,” he said, pointing out that it was an issue of principle and self-respect that affected the entire country.While the Congress has made the purification row a national issue, the party in Punjab is caught in a catch-22 situation. The National Commission for Scheduled Castes last week issued a directive to arrest Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring for allegedly making derogatory remarks against former Union Minister Buta Singh during the Taran Taran bypoll.Questioning the timing of the commission’s directive, Warring says it was an act of political vendetta by the BJP. “On the one hand, the BJP registered an FIR against Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in Haldwani on August 30, and a day later, directions for my arrest were issued,” he had stated, adding that the BJP’s action was aimed at diverting attention from the purification row.