Hours after a group of Dalit lawyers "purified" the statue of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reiterated that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was not "anti-Dalit".
Addressing a two-day BJP state working committee meet in Meerut, the Chief Minister questioned the societal status of the Dalit community prior to the BJP rule.
"People who accuse BJP governments of being anti-Dalit, I want to ask them, if it is really so, then why were Dalits not given houses till now? Why were they not able to enjoy benefits of developmental works," Yogi asked.
Earlier in the day, a group of Dalit lawyers poured milk and 'gangajal' (water from the River Ganga) over Ambedkar's statue, soon after it was garlanded by BJP state secretary Sunil Bansal on Friday.
The lawyers claimed that the statue got "dirty" after Bansal garlanded it, as the BJP government was one that used Ambedkar's name to promote their party and allure the Dalit community.
Furthermore, Congress President Rahul Gandhi too attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah over "rising atrocities" against the Dalits.
"Mr. 56's (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) best buddy (Amit Shah) asked me to 'check my facts' when I said the BJP fuels violence against the Dalits and Adivasis," the Congress President had tweeted.
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