Rahul Gandhi at an earlier protest in Hyderabad over Rohith Vemula's death.
Hyderabad Central University scholar Rohith Vemula was killed by the Government of India, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi charged at a Dalit conclave organised by his party in Lucknow today.
Mr Gandhi said the research scholar, who was found hanging in a hostel room on the university campus on January 17, "was suppressed by the government and forced to commit suicide... An RSS man is heading the institution there and Rohith's voice was not heard."
Activists of the BJP's youth wing, the BJYM, showed Mr Gandhi black flags on his way to the leadership meet in Lucknow.
This is not the first time the Congress leader has attacked the government over Mr Vemula's death. He visited the scholar's family and joined protests against his death twice in Hyderabad. Mr Vemula and his friends were suspended by the university authorities for an alleged attack on an activist of the BJP-linked students' organization ABVP.
Amid charges that Mr Vemula was targeted for being a Dalit, the Congress has been demanding the sacking of Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani and Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya. A letter written to Ms Irani by the Labour minister showed he had asked for action against Mr Vemula and his associates for the attack on the ABVP activist.
Taking on BSP chief Mayawati, a key contender for power in the Uttar Pradesh elections next year, Mr Gandhi said, "Mayawati did not utilise the platform provided by Kanshiram...she did not encourage Dalit leadership in the party in a bid to keep her firm grip on power."
"We want to take Dalits with us as they did not get desired progress in UP and in the country," in an obvious pitch for Dalit support in India's most populous state that has seen Ms Mayawati as chief minister four times.