BJP ally and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan today questioned the pro-Dalit credentials of opposition parties including Congress and fired off fourteen questions seeking reply from its president Rahul Gandhi.
Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president also hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the quick passage of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities bill) in the Parliament to address concerns of Dalits and tribals.
"I want to ask Rahul Gandhi, he claims himself to be a well wisher of Dalits, but why did his party stand against Dalit icon B R Ambedkar when he contested Lok Sabha elections twice? Why there was no portrait of Ambedkar in Parliament's Central hall while there were portraits of three members of the Nehru family? Why his party did not award Ambedkar with Bharat Ratna when it was in power while filmstars were awarded?," Paswan asked Gandhi while addressing members from Dalit community and party workers here.
Other questions raised by the Union Minister were, why OBC commission was not granted constitutional status during Congress rule, and non-construction of memorials where Ambedkar was born, where he lived (in Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur) and London where he died.
Congratulating the Prime Minister for the passage of a bill in Parliament to amend the atrocities act, Paswan said, "we were confident that the bill will be passed but were not hoping that it will happen so soon that a Cabinet meeting will be called during Parliament session only and the bill will be subsequently passed by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. I want to now ask the opposition parties that why are we called anti-Dalits?"
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