Continuing its Dalit outreach, the Uttar Pradesh Congress launched a ‘Dalit Gaurav Samvad’ on Monday, on the death anniversary of Bahujan Samaj Party founder and Dalit scion Kanshi Ram.
The Congress has also worked out a Dalit Adhikar Maang Patra (charter of demands) and those attending the party’s programmes in UP will be asked to list five demands of Dalits and give their names along with the names of their villages and districts. The move is aimed at bringing the issues of the marginalised classes in focus. The ‘Dalit Gaurav Samvad’ will end on Constitution Day (November 26). The Congress is making renewed efforts to woo the Dalits, the most backward classes and other downtrodden sections, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress is trying to win back its traditional vote bank, as the grand old party has been out of power in UP since 1989.
UPCC president Ajay Rai started the campaign by communicating with Prof RB Singh Gautam, an associate of Kanshi Ram, of Kanshi Ram Colony in Laulai village, Chinhat, and by filling the demand letter for Dalit rights.
Rai said, “With the ‘Dalit Gaurav Samvad’, we will go to villages in Lucknow and other districts to connect with the Dalits and other deprived classes.”
Various political parties have been making efforts to woo the Dalits in the past and holding programmes on the birth and death anniversaries of Dr BR Ambedkar.
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had also coined a slogan, ‘Jitni Abadi Utna Haq’ (rights proportional to the population size) when he campaigned in the Karnataka Assembly elections early this year. This is quite similar to the BSP founder’s slogan, ‘Jiski Jitni Sankhya Bhari, Utni Uski Hissedari’ (share of different sections should be in accordance with their population).
UP Congress spokesman Anshu Awasthi said that in the first phase, they propose to connect with 100,000 influential Dalits (250 in each assembly constituency) across UP and 500 ‘Dalit rights demand forms’ will be filled in each assembly. Dialogue will be held with influential people of more than one lakh Dalit families in the entire state. The party will try to find out what are the main demands of the Dalit community by getting two lakh Dalit rights demand forms filled in the entire state.
A night chaupal in Dalit areas in every assembly constituency (total 4,000) has also been proposed. UPCC also proposes to hold ‘Dalit Gaurav Yatras’ and press conferences.
“We are seeking a list of 25 Dalit bastis from every district. We will hold night chaupals there. We are also seeking a list of important Dalit leaders from all the districts. We will issue a circular to all the district party units to hold the ‘Dalit Gaurav Samvad’ programmes. We will get a large number of ‘Dalit Adhikar Patras’ filled in the coming weeks,” he said.
A core group will be formed in every Lok Sabha under collective discussion (Dalit Agenda), after which a one-day ‘Dalit Gaurav Yatra’ will be taken out in 18 divisions of the state.
“The Congress has always been committed to protecting India’s Constitution and the self-respect of Dalits. In the year 1948-49, the then Congress government had taken the first step for the uplift of these castes by establishing the Harijan Welfare Board for the development of SC/ST. To connect them with education, arrangements for providing free education were ensured. In the year 1950, the Constitution of India was adopted in which every Dalit, deprived and exploited living in the country got the opportunity to become equal. In the year 1953, by giving reservation in land to the landless Dalit community, every landless person was made a land owner. This ‘Dalit Gaurav Samvad’ is another step in this series,” Awasthi said.
“The Congress government abolished the Zamindari system and implemented the principle of equality in the country. Former PM Bharat Ratna Rajiv Gandhi fulfilled the dream of every poor having a house by bringing Indira Awas Yojana. On the initiative of public leader Rahul Gandhi, former PM Dr Manmohan Singh implemented the NREGA scheme and gave work to everyone,” he added.
