Congress, communist parties did nothing for Dalit communities: Amit Shah

Home Minister Amit Shah attacked the Congress and the Communist parties by saying they never worked for the welfare of the Scheduled Tribes and treated the Dalit communities only as a votebank

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday attacked the Congress and the Communist parties by saying they never worked for the welfare of the Scheduled Tribes and treated the Dalit communities only as a votebank.

The senior BJP leader, while speaking at a Scheduled Caste conference organised by the saffron party, said the Congress was disappearing while the Communist party was on the verge of extinction.

"Congress is disappearing from India while the Communist party is on the verge of extinction from the world. In Kerala, only the BJP has a future. The Congress party and the Communists never worked for the welfare of the Scheduled Tribes. They treated them as mere votebanks," Shah said.

He asked whether the Congress party ever had a single Minister from the SC/ST community.

He said when BJP had majority in Parliament to elect the Rashtrapathi, they selected a person from the Dalit community - Ram Nath Kovind. "On our second chance, we selected an ST community leader Draupadi Murmu," he said.

"This is because Prime Minister believes that the development of the country is possible only through the development of the SC/ST communities. The Congress and the Communist parties did nothing for the Dalit communities despite being in power for so long," he added.

Shah challenged the Congress and the Communist parties to come forward and explain what they have done for the downtrodden communities so far.

He listed out the projects and policies of the Modi government for the Dalits and the SC/ST communities.

"Ambedkar did not get Bharat Ratna until the Congress was in power. When they were voted out, Ambedkar was awarded Bharat Ratna," Shah said.

He mentioned Pakistan in his brief speech and said the Modi government abrogated Article 370 and joined Kashmir with India.

"We saw terrorists from Pakistan attacking our soldiers at Uri and Pulwama. The Congress never did anything about any such terrorist threats to this country. But Modi gave them a befitting reply by conducting surgical strikes on Pakistan," Shah said.

The Union Minister was here to take part in the 30th southern zonal council meet.