The Congress has no plan to ban Hindutva organisation Bajrang Dal if it comes to power in Karnataka, party leader Veerappa Moily said on Wednesday, reported India Today.

Moily’s statement comes two days after the Congress in its manifesto for the Karnataka Assembly elections promised to impose a ban on Bajrang Dal and Islamic organisation Popular Front of India, saying they promote enmity and hatred among communities.

The promise by the Congress had drawn sharp criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party, particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi who accused the party of insulting Hindu deity Hanuman.

On Wednesday, Moily told reporters that banning organisations comes under the realm of the Central government and not the state government.

“Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar will clarify it,” he added, according to The New Indian Express.

Moily suggested that the proposal by the Congress would have been made in the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s direction to all states and Union Territories to register cases against those making hate speeches.

“Our manifesto unveiled on Tuesday stated that if any organisation be it PFI or Bajrang Dal which engages in damaging the peaceful atmosphere in society, then they may have to be banned,” he said, according to The New Indian Express.

Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera alleged that Modi equated Hanuman with the Bajrang Dal and sought an apology.

Modi had said that the Congress was “trying to lock up those who worship Lord Hanuman” and alleged that this was similar to party’s earlier decision to “lock up Lord Ram”– a reference to the Ram temple-Babri mosque dispute in Ayodhya, according to The Indian Express.

BJP leader burns Congress manifesto

On Thursday, BJP leader KS Eshwarappa burnt a copy of the election manifesto of the Congress over its proposal to ban Bajrang Dal if it came to power in Karnataka, reported PTI.

He also compared the Congress party’s manifesto to that of the Muslim League – which was founded by Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

“How dare they [Congress] have the courage to talk about banning Bajrang Dal,” Eshwarappa said.