No place for Dalits, backwards in the ‘heart’ of Cong: Modi

There is no place for Dalits and backward classes in the heart of the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday, asserting his government is trying to realise B R Ambedkar's dream of a powerful and prosperous India.

Launching a blistering attack on the Congress over the way it has treated Dalits, Modi said the party showed no respect for Ambedkar.

The Congress, he alleged, used "all its power" to defeat Ambedkar when he contest- ed Lok Sabha election in 1952 and Bandara Lok Sabha by-election in 1953.

"That is the reason why Baba Saheb had to face defeat and insult. Let Congress show at least one thing it did to honour Baba Saheb," he said.

Addressing

BJP's SC/ST/OBC and Slum Morcha workers through his Namo App, Modi said, "There is no place for dalits and backward classes in the heart of the Congress." "This has been happening for decades. Till the time the Congress party was in power, Baba Saheb was not given Bharat Ratna," he said. Maintaining that Ambedkar dreamt of an India which takes everybody forward together, he said the BJP is trying to fulfil his dream by implementing various schemes. The government, he said, is making efforts to ensure there is social justice and equality.

Modi said 'Stand Up' and 'Mudra' Yojanas are playing a major role in the financial empowerment of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, OBCs and women.

Noting that the BJP has the most number of MPs belonging these categories, Modi said, it was for the first time after Independence that the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government created a separate ministry for scheduled tribes.

Also, it was under Vajpayee that the government created a separate national commission for scheduled tribes, he said.