Mangaluru: Congress mounted a scathing attack on BJP alleging that the saffron party was anti-Dalit. Speaking for the party, Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana and former union minister Kumari Selja on May 5, alleged that the crimes against Dalits have increased in the country under the BJP government.
Addressing a press meet at the District Congress Committee office here, Kumari Selja said BJP was non-committal towards Dalits and is indulging in mere lip-service and shedding crocodile tears.
“If BJP is a great protector of Dalits, then why crimes against Dalits have increased? Crimes against Dalits and women have gone up in the country. The basic ideology of BJP is against the weaker sections. Both RSS and BJP have anti-Dalit mindset.”
“The prime minister and the BJP would like to appropriate the legacy of Dr Ambedkar. On the other hand, the ground reality and the attitude shown by the BJP towards the SC/STs issues are vastly different. Dr. Ambedkar who was the chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution always comes under attack during the BJP rule”, she added.
She also continued her criticism of the union government for failing to present sufficient facts that led to dilution of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by the Supreme Court. Kumari Selja said, “Actually the case of SC/STs was not defended by the union government in the Supreme Court of India. When the Supreme Court came up with its judgement against SC/ST POA Act, it had given reference to the Government of India but the latter chose not to take it seriously which resulted into adverse judgement.”
“It was Rahul Gandhi, along with senior leaders of opposition, who requested the President of India to direct the government to file a review petition, which they did later. Why did BJP allow this act to fall on this path?”, she questioned.
She also alleged that budget allocated for Dalit welfare had come down under BJP. Under the UPA government, more than Rs 803 Crore was spent for helping SCs through scholarship. BJP government has allocated only Rs 125 Crore for 2018-19. This an example of their negligent attitude towards SCs, she added.
She charged that BJP did not speak of Dalits as the RSS ideology did not allow it. She termed the BJP as the “Master of fake publicity and propaganda.”
Praising the Karnataka government on its initiatives for the SC/STs, she said, “The Karnataka government has brought affirmative action for the weaker sections. Congress party is committed to helping the weaker sections of the society.”
