New Delhi, Aug 29 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi on Saturday strongly attacked the Congress and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, accusing them of an anti-Dalit mindset and political opportunism.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP central office in New Delhi, the leaders claimed LoP Rahul Gandhi was trying to create a false narrative over alleged disrespect shown to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. At the same time, the party’s own conduct exposed its hollowness.
Paswan said Congress has a long history of anti-Dalit politics and uses the community only as a vote bank. He alleged that Dalit leaders have repeatedly been marginalised, citing examples of B.R. Ambedkar and Babu Jagjivan Ram. He claimed Jagjivan Ram was denied due credit for the 1971 war and that a Dalit could not become Prime Minister because of Congress.
Showing videos, Paswan alleged that Kharge was made to stand outside during Priyanka Gandhi’s nomination process in Wayanad while family members went inside, and that former Puducherry Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy was seen carrying LoP Rahul Gandhi’s slippers. He further cited instances of Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara in Karnataka, Kumari Selja in Haryana and others allegedly being sidelined.
In contrast, Paswan said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, social justice has moved beyond slogans through representation, scholarships, institutions and welfare schemes. He noted that Dalits and Adivasis have been made Chief Ministers or Deputy Chief Ministers in states like Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, and that Arjun Ram Meghwal became Union Law Minister after Ambedkar.
Trivedi said Congress and LoP Rahul Gandhi practise politics of division through caste, language, region and gender, while the BJP believes in social harmony and solutions. He accused LoP Rahul Gandhi of repeatedly attempting to create conflict in society and claimed that no matter how many faces are changed, a lie cannot become truth.
He referred to incidents of violence against Dalits under Congress governments and the party’s record on Article 370, under which even highly educated members of the Valmiki community were restricted to sanitation work.
Both leaders asserted that the Congress’s words and actions show a wide gap. That genuine empowerment of the Dalit community has taken place only under the Modi government through concrete measures rather than slogans.
–IANS
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