In an appallingly dishonest move, the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) has been caught red-handed fudging its 2016 Assembly election manifesto to whitewash its stance on Jallikattu, the ancient bull taming sport held on the occasion of Pongal in Tamil Nadu.
The TNCC has been making arrangements for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Madurai reportedly to witness Jallikattu. This had led to many questioning the Congress leader’s visit as the party was instrumental in bringing the ban on the sport that is seen as a symbol of Tamil culture and heritage. Many had pointed out that the Congress in its 2016 Assembly election manifesto had declared to ban Jallikattu. But, there have been disputing references regarding this.
A Time of India report dated April 27, 2016 states that the party had called for a ban on Jallikattu in its 2016 election manifesto. Zee News too reported on the same date quoting ANI that the party promised to completely ban Jallikattu if it comes to power.
India Today too reported that the Congress in its manifesto has ‘promised prohibition on Jallikattu’.
Another Times of India report dated January 19, 2017 and headlined “Congress flip-flops on jallikattu, now says it is against ban” notes that the party had changed its stance in the light of the pro-Jallikattu protests that took the state by storm.
However only The News Minute on April 27, 2016 seems to have reported differently stating that the party promised to ‘legalize’ Jallikattu.
On digging further, it was found that the original version of 2016 manifesto had no mention of Jallikattu or condemning the ban on the ancient sport.
But the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee on Tuesday (January 12, 2021) had tweeted a picture of the same page of the manifesto that had a line which was not present in the earlier version.
The official handle of TNCC in response to BJP Tamil Nadu spokesperson SG Suryah’s tweet who had called out the Congress’ stance on Jallikattu, tweeted a picture of page number 72 of the manifesto that had two lines about Jallikattu.
The highlighted portion reads as: “Serious efforts will be taken to conduct Jalllikattu sport that was banned by the BJP government”.
This statement was not present in the version of the manifesto that was accessed from internet archives.
It seems that the Congress has fudged its 2016 election manifesto and uploaded in its website as a coverup job.
The stance of many of the Congress leaders on Jallikattu has been quite the contrary of what the party is claiming now.
Former PM Manmohan Singh, in a letter to NG Jayasimha, Managing Director of Humane Society International, a Secunderabad-based NGO, had said that he was for banning the bull fight.
Former Union Minister of Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh had welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to ban Jallikattu. In fact, it was during his stint as the Environment Minister that he banned Jallikattu by adding bull to the list of animals prohibited for ‘performance’.
Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor back in 2015 called Jallikattu as cruel.
Former Congress Minister Jayanthi Natarajan too speaking to a Tamil TV channel conceded that Congress was responsible for Jallikattu ban.
