The Congress Party on Tuesday dubbed Bandaru Dattatreya a result of anti-Dalit attitude of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while the ruling dispensation claimed the Union Minister has always worked for upliftment of the down trodden.
"Leaders like Bandaru Dattatreya possess an old mindset and are a result of anti-Dalit attitude of the BJP. The intolerance of the ruling government was earlier visible against the liberals, but now it seems they are trying to suppress the Dalits also," Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit told ANI.
Dikshit further said that the letter clearly states that the Union Minister had a problem with the organization, which talked about the rights of Dalits because he has banned that organisation in particular which allegedly is the reason behind the suicide.
However, the BJP rallied behind Dattatreya and said he has always raised his voice for the rights of the backwards in the society.
"All his life he has tried to improve the condition of the backward people in the country. Playing politics over the incident is not right," BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told ANI.
"The police has registered a case and the HRD Ministry has also started enquiring the matter. The culprit would be taken to task," he added.
More From This Section
When asked to respond on the scheduled visit of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to Hyderabad, Naqvi said the former has a negative mindset and added that the grand old party is suffering due to it.
"We are trying to heal the wounds and the Congress Party wants to gain political mileage out of it. This won't happen," he added.
Dattatreya has been charged with abetting the suicide of the Dalit scholar. He has also been booked under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act following allegations that he orchestrated the suspension of Rohith Vermula and four other Dalit students from the University hostel.
The police has also registered a case for abetment of suicide against University of Hyderabad Vice Chancellor Appa Rao and two ABVP leaders Sushil Kumar and Vishnu.
The Centre has formed a two-member probe committee as the incident triggered protests in Hyderabad and the national capital yesterday.
28-year-old Vermula hailing from Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district was found hanging at a friend's hostel room around 7: 30 p.m. on Sunday.