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UPA Did Not Ban Sanatan Sanstha In 2013 Over 'Political Reasons': Report

The report says that the UPA was scared of being perceived as "anti-Hindu" ahead of the 2014 elections.
A file photo of UPA leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
Altaf Hussain / Reuters
A file photo of UPA leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government may have backed out of banning radical Hindu outfit Sanatan Sanstha in 2013 due to political reasons, says a News18 report.

The report comes even as the Maharashtra government is planning to submit a request to the centre to ban the organisation.

The News18 report quoted sources as saying the Congress-led UPA was scared of being branded "anti-Hindu" ahead of the 2014 elections and hence did not ban the organisation despite deliberating on the issue.

The then Maharashtra government had also reportedly submitted a dossier to the Home Ministry over the issue.

The report quoted Prithviraj Chavan, former chief minister of Maharashtra, as saying that he had sent a recommendation to the UPA government for the ban. News18 also quoted an unnamed Home Ministry as saying: "A file was prepared, but the decision was not taken for political reasons."

The report comes at a time when several opposition parties have sought a ban on the Sanatan Sanstha after its involvement in the murder of rationalists such as Narendra Dabholkar, MM Kalburgi and Govind Pansare was brought to light.

The BJP-led Maharashtra government is planning to submit fresh documents to back the request for a ban.

Hindustan Times quoted minister of state for home Deepak Kesarkar as saying, "Investigating agencies have been interrogating Raut and others accused arrested in various cases. The interrogation is expected to reveal some more information related to the Sanstha. We will apprise the centre..."

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Sanatan Sanstha held a protest over the call for a ban in Pune.

Read the entire News18 report here.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.