BJP wants Dalits to exist at bottom rung of society: Rahul

Modi accuses Congress of having the agenda of only opposing him and blames it for disrupting Parliament session

NEW DELHI/RAICHUR: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that the BJP and RSS wanted Dalits and Adivasis to exist at the bottom rung of society.

Gandhi shared a video on Twitter showing atrocities against Dalits, including the 2016 Una incident.

“Central to the RSS/BJP fascist ideology, is that Dalits and Adivasis must continue to exist at the bottom rung of society.

“In this disturbing video, the dangers of this mindset and how it’s openly propagated by senior RSS/BJP leaders is revealed” Gandhi tweeted with the hashtag #Answermaadimodi or Modi must answer in Kannada.

The video also claims that “every 12 minutes, Dalits faces atrocity, everyday six Dalit women are raped”.

“Why are Dalits constantly prosecuted in Modi’s new India... His silence reflects the mindset of RSS and BJP... Speak-up Mr Modi,” it added.

Karnataka will vote in the assembly elections on May 12. The state has 23.5 per cent Dalit population.

Meanwhile, accusing the Congress of having the agenda of only opposing him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday held the opposition party responsible for disruption of part of the budget session of Parliament in March.

“As the Congress agenda is only to oppose and criticise me, it does not allow even Parliament to function,” Modi said at a BJP rally in Raichur.

“The Congress had an eco-system of looting which our government has come down heavily on. No wonder the Congress is angry with me and its leaders are abusing me,” he added.

Campaigning for the party’s candidates contesting from the state’s northern part, about 470 km north of Bengaluru, the Prime Minister said the Congress owes an explanation to the country about why it disrupted Parliament.

The second part of the budget session from March 5 to April 6 was washed out due to disruptions owing to protests by the Congressled opposition over several issues.

The Congress was functioning with an “anti-dalit” mindset due to which it is stalling Parliament and obstructing according of a constitutional status on the Other Backward Classes Commission, Modi claimed.

Addressing hundreds of people in the drought-prone district, Modi asked the Congress government to give an account of their work done in the state.

— AFP Congress member of the Karnataka legislative assembly Priya Krishna (L) hands over pamphlets to voters from his constituency during an election campaign event in Bangalore on Sunday.