The Congress did not protect the interests of the Dalits and backwards the way it should have in the 1990s, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday.
Addressing a programme organised by Dalit influencers here, Mr Gandhi said merely getting political representation for the Dalits and backwards would not help solve their problems unless they got "bhagidari" in institutions and wealth.
He also said that once the "original base" of the Congress party is back, the BJP and the RSS would have to run away. It will happen soon, he added.
Mr Gandhi said during Indira Gandhi's tenure, the Congress had full confidence of Dalits, minorities, backwards, but in the 1990s "there were shortcomings," and the fact is not lost on the party.
"In the last 10-15 years, the Congress party did not do what it should have done (for the Dalits, backwards). If I don't say this, I will be lying. If the Congress party supported and maintained the confidence of Dalits, backwards, the RSS could never have come to power.
"During Indira Gandhi's time, there was full confidence of Dalits, minorities, backwards in the Congress. But after the 1990s, there were shortcomings. This reality would have to be accepted by the Congress.
"This means that there has to be internal revolution within the Congress party by bringing in people like you," he said at the 'Vanchit Samaj: Dasha aur Disha' programme.
Mr Gandhi said it was the disunity among the public which has obstructed their progress and allowed the BJP and RSS to flourish.
"The day we get together, they will run away. The day the original base of the Congress party will be united, the BJP, RSS will run away. We have to work on our unity. We have to hear out Dalits, backwards, extreme-backwards, minorities, and take them forward. But I feel it will take some years to do so," he said.
"You can see that for a few months. The BJP cannot do anything to the Congress. They cannot run the country. They are frauds and total frauds," he also alleged.
Mr Gandhi hailed Dr BR Ambedkar as the ultimate benefactor of the Dalits and as someone who gave voice to the voiceless.
"You talk about political representation and Kanshi Ram fought for political representation. But they have made political representation irrelevant. Lok Sabha BJP MPs say they have made them a statue as they can't even speak. The institutions, be it education or corporate India, judiciary, we have to get the share of power," he said at the conference.
The former Congress president said there is a "huge difference" between representation and share of power.
"Like I said in the budget, backwards have 50 per cent population but the share of power is just 5 per cent. Dalits have 15 per cent population but have only one per cent share of power. The next question is the share of power and the share of wealth," he said.
Mr Gandhi asserted that unless the Dalits and the backwards got a just share in power, the problem would not be solved.
He said that though the Congress gave participation to Dalits and backwards in the education system, they did not get control.
"Right now there is no control. Zero. You may get partial control, not total. But currently it is zero," he noted.
He said it was due to Ambedkar crystallising the thoughts and suggestions of the Dalit and backward classes that made them know about their problems, pain, and untouchability.
"The new phase of Dalit emancipation and backwards emancipation is beginning. Because we have accepted certain things," Mr Gandhi asserted.
He said Dalits had hardly any representation in the TV talks shows, media, and the top posts in the corporate sector.
He also likened Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Fidel Castro, the Communist leader of Cuba, who ruled with an iron fist.
"I saw the list of RSS vice chancellors, they are all from upper castes. They made a tribal President, but gave her no power. They made a Dalit the President but no power was given, it was only symbolic," Mr Gandhi said.
The Congress politician also attacked Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, claiming that he was no different in outlook towards the Dalits.
"He is anti-reservation and anti-Dalits just the way Modi ji is. He may be more sophisticated than Modi ji, but he is the same," he said.
Later also, in a post on X in Hindi, Mr Gandhi said, "Kejriwal is a sophisticated version of Modi ji. Both of them talk hollow, both of them lie one after the other, Both are anti-reservation and anti-dalit, Both do not want Bahujan 'bhaagidaari', Both of them want to keep the power in their own hands."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
