"Political parties will be paying tribute to (B R) Ambedkar if India gets a Dalit President in August. They should resolve to do so," Anil Shastri tweeted.
Shastri is a special invitee to Congress Working Committee and heads the Hindi Vibagh of AICC. He was earlier the editor of party mouthpiece "Congress Sandesh" but was replaced after publication of some controversial content during the Ramdev agitation.
Linking the issue of Dalit pride to that of the recent controversy over the publication of an old cartoon on Ambedkar in school text books, he asked, "Why don't political parties show the same solidarity and resolve in deciding on a Dalit President as they have done for a 60 year old cartoon?"
Shastri is the first Congress leader to speak out in public over his preference for the kind of candidate that should occupy the top constitutional office this time.
Congress has so far not opened its cards on the issue but has made it clear that it was for the "widest possible consensus" on the issue.