Udit Raj asked government to stop torture of Dalits who participated in April 2 agitation
Udit Raj, one of the first ruling party BJP lawmakers to alert the NDA government about the need to do more for Dalits, has said people were being "tortured at a large scale" for the nationwide protest by Dalit groups earlier this month and named places in BJP-ruled Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh where, he insisted, false cases were being slapped against them.
The lawmaker also responded to barbs, on and off social media, that he was bringing a bad name to the party by going public. Udit Raj said he was speaking about the ground situation to alert the government and party in time to take corrective measures.
There were Dalit leaders in the party who haven't spoken for fear that they would lose the party ticket in the next elections, he said.
Udit Raj is one of the BJP's five Dalit Lok Sabha members who have spoken out about resentment in the community against their own party. The public statements seen as a reflection of the discomfort within the party's Dalit leaders and leave the door open for them to cut their losses if needed ahead of the 2019 general elections.
"I am not one of those Dalit leaders and party members who'll keep quiet in my own interest... I can't keep quiet," he said, underlining that not telling the party at right time "would have been a selfish act".
He added that he cautioned the party leaders about the building resentment about two years back. "It has now exploded," he said.
The immediate trigger was a Supreme Court verdict that, Dalit leaders insist, had weakened the law against Dalit atrocities by requiring the police to probe complaints before making arrests. Dalit leaders had called for nationwide shutdown on 2 April. There had been arson in some parts of north India during the shutdown and over 10 people had died.
Mayawati, the Bahujan Samaj Party chief, also lent her voice against the police action.
"The April 2 bandh has left the BJP scared and authorities in the BJP-ruled states have started atrocities towards Dalits," Mayawati said in a statement.
She also asked the community not to forgive the parliamentarians for the pushback from the administration.
The BJP had won all the 17 Lok Sabha seats reserved for scheduled castes (SC) in Uttar Pradesh in 2014 general elections. The BSP's alliance with the Samajwadi Party, however, is seen to have made it very difficult for the BJP to repeat its 2014 performance.