Congress has anti-Dalit mindset, alleges BJP

The allegation came after a Cong leader's reported charges against its Ghaziabad party chief for berating him over his caste

BJP today latched on to a Dalit UP Congress leader's reported charges against its Ghaziabad party chief of publicly berating him over his caste to hit out at the opposition party, saying it reflected its "anti-Dalit" mindset and asked why Rahul Gandhi was "silent" on the issue.

BJP accused the Congress vice-president of only raising Dalit issues for doing politics and asked why no case was registered under SC/ST Act in the matter.

"This incident reflects the Congress mindset and its 'anti-Dalit' thought. Congress can do drama by sitting on a dharna in Hyderabad over the Dalit student suicide issue only to do politics, but this incident reflects the thought prevalent in Congress mindset as to how Dalits cannot be equal to them and their place is in their feet," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told reporters.

BJP's SC Morcha chief Dushyant Kumar Gautam also asked the Congress why an FIR under the SC/ST Act was not registered and asked what the SC/ST Commission led by Congress leader P L Punia was doing in the case.

Attacking the Congress vice-president over the incident, Patra said, "When a Dalit is being berated and dishonoured in his own party, why is Rahul Gandhi silent and has not initiated any action even when its Ghaziabad district SC Morcha chief has written to him and threatened suicide for his public humiliation."

He asked if Rahul even visited him once or even talked to him even after three days of the incident and after Congress Dalit leader Jitender Kumar wrote to him.

Gautam said, "Congress is double-faced" and adopts double-standards" while dealing with Dalits. He also accused Congress of humiliating Dalit icon B R Ambedkar and said successive Congress governments for decades have not bothered to make a memorial out of the Alipur Road residence here, where Ambedkar breathed his last.

Gautam said Rahul Gandhi should ask his Ghaziabad district chief to resign or suspend him.

"This is a serious cause of concern. Congress does such discrimination and ill-treatment to Dalits. It is its duty to answer on this incident," Patra said.

Ghaziabad Congress SC Morcha chief Jatinder Kumar has reportedly alleged that on February 3 at a party meeting he was berated and humiliated over his caste by the party's district president who has denied the charges.

Jatinder has written to the Congress president, demanding action against the culprits. The AICC's SC department has asked the state unit to probe the incident, according to a media report.

Gautam also highlighted the rape of a Dalit girl in Bareli.