Journalism of Courage
As part of his attempt to win back his partys Dalit support base from the BSP in Uttar Pradesh,Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday promised maximum representation to Dalits in the next elections and took a dig at BSP chief Mayawati to rue the fact that there were not enough leaders emerging from the community.
After Sonia,it’s Rahul turn to woo the dalits
Addressing a convention,National Dialogue on Social Disparity,organised by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes here,Rahul promised to open the locked doors for the community. It will be our effort to give maximum representation to Dalits in coming elections, he said. He hoped Dalits would become the partys backbone in time to come and asked them to trust the Congress.
Significantly,he spoke about BSP founder Kanshi Ram,saying the movement he had started to empower Dalits tapered off after his death. He followed this up with a subtle dig at Mayawati. You ask for the names of five Dalit leaders in UP and the answer you will hear is Mayawati,Mayawati,Mayawati,Mayawati and Mayawati, he said,suggesting that other Dalit leaders could not grow.
Rahul attacks Mayawati in her stronghold,woos Dalits
Rahul has been trying hard to reach out to the Dalits in Uttar Pradesh with his much-publicised sleepovers at Dalit homes but with limited success. For instance,despite his travel to Dalit homes and villages,the party could win only five of the 85 constituencies reserved for SC candidates in the last Assembly elections. The party even lost in the Mauranipur assembly segment from where Rahul began his travel to Dalit homes.
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Rahul said he wanted Dalits leaders to emerge and play important roles,be it in UP or Delhi. He spoke about discrimination being faced by Dalits both in social or in the political arena and argued that no party has accorded equal rights to the Dalits. He said a few people in each party decide on who would fight elections.There may 100 such people in Congress,80 in BJP,two or three in SP and one in BSP,he said and called for a change in the present order so leaders emerge up from among the people.
