The Congress on Monday condemned the registration of an FIR against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, but said the “real issue” was why the Uttarakhand BJP government had still not booked those accused of carrying out the alleged “shuddhikaran” of a stage used by party president Mallikarjun Kharge in Haldwani.Congress leaders Randeep Surjewala, Kumari Selja and  Pawan Khera questioned the action against Rahul, accusing the BJP of promptly booking a leader who spoke against the alleged act while taking no action against those accused of carrying it out.“Stop making an issue out of the FIR against Rahul ji. When a person against whom the BJP has filed 40-50 cases across the country has one more FIR lodged against him, what difference does it make. The real issue isn’t the FIR against Rahul ji. The real issue is that of ‘purification’,” Khera said.He questioned the intentions of the BJP and the Uttarakhand government, saying an FIR was registered against the person who raised his voice against “shuddhikaran”, but “not even a single FIR” had been filed against those who allegedly carried it out or orchestrated it.Khera said Kharge had himself stood up in Parliament and said that the alleged purification had taken place.“It is the responsibility of the Uttarakhand government to file an FIR. Whatever else happened, who did it, why it was done — that will come to light in the investigation. So why the fear of registering an FIR?” Khera asked.He also questioned whether the BJP government had any intention of ensuring “dignity and justice” for Dalits.Surjewala termed the case against Rahul another sign of the BJP government’s approach towards those questioning the Haldwani incident.“By registering an FIR against Rahul, the cowardly BJP government has revealed its true face,” he said.Surjewala said Kharge had spoken both inside and outside Parliament about how the incident had hurt him, while BJP leaders were offering arguments in its defence.“When Rahul raises his voice against that discrimination, the BJP government files an FIR against him,” he said.Selja also questioned the contrast between the police action against Rahul and the absence of a case against those accused of the “shuddhikaran”.“First, ‘shuddhikaran’ was carried out. Then the Uttarakhand BJP president openly defended it. And now, when Rahul demanded action against those responsible, the BJP government in Uttarakhand has registered a case against him,” she said.Calling it a serious example of what she described as the BJP-RSS’s “anti-Dalit and anti-Constitution” thinking, Selja also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence.“Question the ‘shuddhikaran’ and there is an FIR. Speak about Dalit dignity and there is an FIR. Raise your voice for the Constitution and there is an FIR,” she said.Selja said the Congress would challenge the case through legal and democratic means and would continue raising the Haldwani issue.