The Congress party on Thursday said it will develop a separate authority to develop the Anjanadri Hill, believed to be the birthplace of Lord Hanuman, two days after it announced its plans to ban Bajrang Dal caused an uproar.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar, speaking to the media in Mysuru, sought to clarify that he was as much a devotee of Bajrang Bali (Lord Hanuman) as anyone else and word the Hanuman tilak. “Is there not a difference between Bajrang Bali and Bajrang Dal,” he asked in a bid to clear the air and lob the issue at the doorstep of the BJP for what he called use of the Lord’s name for political gains.

He maintained that there had been historical evidence to show Lord Hanuman was born in Karnataka as he sought to make it clear to members of the Hindu community that the Congress regime will develop the religious place in Vijayanagar district.

The Congress party will also hold exclusive programmes on Lord Hanuman targeting the youth and to spread the value system the Lord stood for.

The Congress leader, who is an aspirant for the CM’s post, said Bajrang Dal was an arm of a political party indulging in moral policing. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, which has not built a single temple of Hanuman, are trying to use the Lord’s name for political gains, the KPCC president said.

Congress leader Siddaramaiah wondered why his party’s manifesto promising to deal firmly with organisations that cause communal trouble should hurt the BJP.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, however, hit back at Shivakumar saying the relationship between the Bajrang Dal and Hanuman was the same as the one between Lord Ram and Hanuman. The Congress was trying to hurt the sentiments of people, he told reporters at Hubballi.Meanwhile, the Bajrang Dal organised chanting of Hanuman Chalisa at temples to protest the Congress election promise to ban the organisation.

The Congress released the manifesto on Tuesday, hours before Modi’s scheduled election rally at Hospet, and he seized the opportunity to lead the attack on the Congress, while vowing to not let anyone “damage the honour & culture of Karnataka.”

At his rallies in coastal Karnataka on Wednesday, he shouted “Jai Bajrang Bali’and urged voters to punish the Congress by casting their vote for the BJP by pressing the “Lotus” symbol on May 10.