Rahul Gandhi demanded a CBI probe into the death of the Dalit girl in Barmer.
New Delhi, Jaipur:
With only a year to go before the crucial assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Dalits are occupying a key space in the radar of political parties. If the BJP has been keen on celebrating BR Ambedkar's birth anniversary, the Congress is joining the dots with instances of atrocities on Dalits.
In Uttar Pradesh, that goes to polls next year Dalits comprise 20 per cent of the voters and could well make a difference to any political party's political fortune.
On Wednesday, Congress vice president Raul Gandhi visited Rajasthan's Barmer and met the parents of a minor Dalit girl who had allegedly been raped and murdered by her school teacher.
Demanding that the case be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation, Mr Gandhi said, "She was a daughter of Hindustan... She was crushed and trampled on, just the way Rohith Vemula was crushed."
Linking the death to the suicide of the Dalit scholar from the Hyderabad University was a subtle message to the Dalit votebank of Uttar Pradesh.
The Bahujan Samaj Party, which has a large support base among Dalits, has already been vociferous about the suicide of Rohith Vemula, who had allegedly been victimised for his caste and punished by the University on the orders of Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya.
Mr Gandhi's visit to Barmer took place two days after he was in Nagpur's Deekshabhumi, where Dr Ambedkar had embraced Buddhism. And he followed it up with an address at a Dalit convention in Jaipur.
The BJP, meanwhile, will mark Ambedkar's 125th birth anniversary, April 14, as Samrasta Diwas -- a day dedicated to harmony and equality. On Thursday, Prime Minister Modi visit Mhow in Madhya Pradesh, Babasaheb's birthplace. The day will be celebrated in a big way in the BJP-ruled states.
"The Congress claims the scheduled castes are their votebank, but they have seen that vote just dissipate. That is why they are resorting to this kind of politics," said Rajendra Rathore, Rajasthan's minister for parliamentary affairs.
In Uttar Pradesh, that goes to polls next year Dalits comprise 20 per cent of the voters and could well make a difference to any political party's political fortune.
On Wednesday, Congress vice president Raul Gandhi visited Rajasthan's Barmer and met the parents of a minor Dalit girl who had allegedly been raped and murdered by her school teacher.
Demanding that the case be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation, Mr Gandhi said, "She was a daughter of Hindustan... She was crushed and trampled on, just the way Rohith Vemula was crushed."
Linking the death to the suicide of the Dalit scholar from the Hyderabad University was a subtle message to the Dalit votebank of Uttar Pradesh.
The Bahujan Samaj Party, which has a large support base among Dalits, has already been vociferous about the suicide of Rohith Vemula, who had allegedly been victimised for his caste and punished by the University on the orders of Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya.
Mr Gandhi's visit to Barmer took place two days after he was in Nagpur's Deekshabhumi, where Dr Ambedkar had embraced Buddhism. And he followed it up with an address at a Dalit convention in Jaipur.
The BJP, meanwhile, will mark Ambedkar's 125th birth anniversary, April 14, as Samrasta Diwas -- a day dedicated to harmony and equality. On Thursday, Prime Minister Modi visit Mhow in Madhya Pradesh, Babasaheb's birthplace. The day will be celebrated in a big way in the BJP-ruled states.
"The Congress claims the scheduled castes are their votebank, but they have seen that vote just dissipate. That is why they are resorting to this kind of politics," said Rajendra Rathore, Rajasthan's minister for parliamentary affairs.
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