Giriraj Singh invokes 1966 Parliament firing to attack Congress
Synopsis
Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh attacked Congress on 18 October 2026, invoking the November 1966 police firing on unarmed sadhus near Parliament during a cow-slaughter ban agitation, calling it the party's unerasable 'dark history.'
Key Takeaways
Giriraj Singh posted a sharp attack on Congress on 18 October 2026 , referencing the 1966 sadhu protest firing near Parliament.
In November 1966 , police opened fire on a procession of Hindu ascetics outside Parliament House, New Delhi demanding a cow-slaughter ban, resulting in deaths.
The Congress-led government of the time was held responsible for ordering the crackdown, a charge the BJP has repeatedly raised over the decades.
Singh, the Lok Sabha MP from Begusarai, Bihar , framed the episode as a permanent stain that 'can neither be erased from history nor hidden.' Congress had not publicly responded to the post at the time of publication.
A sixty-year-old bloodstain on Parliament Street is back at the centre of Indian political discourse. Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh on Sunday, 18 October 2026, sharply attacked the Indian National Congress, invoking the 1966 sadhu protest firing outside Parliament and calling it an indelible blot on the party's record of governance.
Posting in Hindi on X, the senior BJP leader wrote: 'संसद के दरवाजे पर निहत्थे साधु-संतों पर गोलियाँ चलवाकर उनके खून से सड़क लाल करने का काला इतिहास है कांग्रेस का!' — 'Congress has a dark history of getting bullets fired on unarmed sadhus and saints at the very doors of Parliament, staining the road red with their blood! This cruelty of power can neither be erased from history nor ever be hidden.'
What happened outside Parliament in November 1966
The incident Giriraj Singh refers to dates to November 1966, when a large procession of Hindu ascetics marched to Parliament House in New Delhi demanding a nationwide ban on cow slaughter. The demonstration, one of the largest of its kind in post-Independence India, turned deadly when police opened fire on the crowd, killing several protesters. The Congress-led government of the time bore the political fallout, and the episode has remained a contested chapter in the party's history.
The agitation shook the capital and forced a political response, yet no comprehensive federal cow-slaughter ban followed — a grievance that Hindu nationalist groups have kept alive across decades of debate on cow protection legislation.
BJP's recurring use of the 1966 narrative
This is not the first time BJP leaders have dusted off the 1966 Parliament protest as a political argument. The incident resurfaces reliably during debates over cow protection, secularism, and the Congress party's relationship with religious communities — serving as a sharp counter whenever Congress positions itself as a defender of minority or majority religious sentiment alike.
Giriraj Singh, who represents Begusarai in Bihar — a constituency with a significant cattle-farming and devout Hindu electorate — has long been one of the BJP's most combative voices on cultural and religious issues. His framing today was unambiguous: history, he argued, cannot be rewritten or concealed by the party that ordered the firing.
Congress had not responded publicly to the post at the time of publication. Whether the remark is the opening salvo of a broader BJP campaign or a standalone historical reminder ahead of a political event remains unclear — but the charge, sharp and historically grounded, is now in the public arena for the opposition to answer.
Point of View
Documented historical event — the 1966 Parliament firing — rather than a vague allegation, the charge is harder for Congress to dismiss outright. The timing, unlinked to any confirmed trigger, suggests this may be part of a wider cycle of political positioning ahead of a state election or parliamentary session. For Congress, the episode remains a genuine liability: it sits at the intersection of cow protection, state violence, and secular governance — precisely the fault lines that define India's contemporary culture wars.
NationPress
18 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the 1966 sadhu protest firing near Parliament that Giriraj Singh referenced?
In November 1966 , a large procession of Hindu ascetics marched to Parliament House in New Delhi demanding a nationwide ban on cow slaughter. Police opened fire on the crowd, killing several protesters. The Congress-led government at the time faced severe criticism for the crackdown.
What did Giriraj Singh say about Congress on 18 October 2026?
Giriraj Singh posted in Hindi on X saying Congress has a 'dark history' of ordering bullets to be fired on unarmed sadhus and saints at the doors of Parliament, staining the road with their blood, and that 'this cruelty of power can neither be erased from history nor ever be hidden.'
Why do BJP leaders repeatedly raise the 1966 sadhu firing incident?
BJP leaders invoke the 1966 Parliament protest firing to challenge Congress's claim to be a protector of Hindu religious sentiment, particularly in debates over cow protection, secularism, and the party's governance record on cultural issues.
Who is Giriraj Singh?
Giriraj Singh is a senior BJP leader, Union Minister of Textiles , and Lok Sabha MP from Begusarai, Bihar . He is widely known as one of the party's most assertive voices on Hindutva and cultural nationalism issues.
Did Congress respond to Giriraj Singh's post about the 1966 firing?
As of the time of publication on 18 October 2026 , Congress had not publicly responded to Giriraj Singh's post on X regarding the 1966 sadhu protest firing.
