JDU leaders accuse Kejriwal of sidelining Dalits, backward classes

The Janata Dal (United) on Friday accused Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal of not giving representation to Dalits and backward classes, and said a leader tainted with corruption charges has no right to give suggestions to someone like Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The attack on the former Delhi chief minister from two key JD(U) leaders, Union minister Lalan Singh and Sanjay Jha, came a day after Kejriwal wrote a letter to Kumar asking him to "deeply reflect" on Union Home Minister Amit Shah's alleged insulting comments for B R Ambedkar.

Kejriwal had written a similar letter to another key BJP ally, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

Jha responded to the AAP leader by writing he did not send a single leader from the Dalit and backward castes to the Rajya Sabha and accusing him of backtracking on his promise of picking a Dalit deputy chief minister in Punjab.

Jha asked if the AAP leader could not find anyone from these classes to replace him as Delhi chief minister when he resigned and cited Kumar's choice of Dalit leader Jitan Ram Manjhi to take him place in 2014.

Kejriwal has had links with an organisation known for its stand against reservation, joined hands with the Congress after swearing to never ally with it, hates people from Bihar and poorvanchal as is clear from their poor living conditions in the national capital, he alleged. 

Singh told reporters that Kejriwal had no right to question the JD(U) president and took a swipe at him over his incarceration in jail in a corruption case after entering politics through an anti-corruption movement headed by veteran activist Anna Hazare.

He then dumped Hazare, the Union minister said, adding, "A corrupt person has no right to offer advice to Nitish Kumar who was a Union minister and is now chief minister for so many years and still can not been accused of any misconduct."  Sharing the letters on X, Kejriwal said people feel that those who love Ambedkar can not support the BJP that "insulted" the architect of India's Constitution, and asked Kumar and Naidu to ponder over it.

Shah's remark on Babasaheb was not only "disrespectful" but also revealed the BJP's perspective towards him and the Constitution, the AAP leader said in the letters to the two chief ministers.

"The statement made by Shah in Parliament regarding Babasaheb has left the entire nation stunned. His remark that 'chanting Ambedkar-Ambedkar has become a fashion these days' is not only disrespectful but also reveals the BJP's perspective towards Babasaheb and our Constitution," Kejriwal wrote.

JD(U) leaders strongly defended Shah, saying he only exposed the Congress' insult of Ambedkar, an iconic figure, especially among Dalits.

"The home minister threw light on those pages of history which you and the leader of your alliance Rahul Gandhi do not want to see. Shah told the country as to how a hurt Ambedkar had to resign from Nehru's Cabinet due to neglect of Dalits and women. I can understand that you and your alliance leader Rahul Gandhi would not have liked such a discussion at all," Jha wrote in the letter.

The Congress was in power in Bihar till 1990 and enjoyed its fruits later till 2005 in alliance with the RJD but it was Kumar who gave reservation to Dalits and extremely backward classes in local bodies, he added.