Eyeing the potent Dalit vote bank, both the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress have decided to raise the issue of growing atrocities on members of the community in the coming Monsoon season of the Assembly and the Council.
The two parties also criticised the Akhilesh Yadav government for its inaction to protect the lives of Dalits in the state and also failing to check the rising crimes against the Dalits. Interestingly the BJP too was not far behind to latch on to the sentiments of the community.
It may be mentioned that a Dalit youth was lynched to death after a mob termed him as a thief in Gola area of lakhimpur Kheri on Tuesday. In Sabhal, a girl was denied drinking water by a priest and later her father was beaten up just for being a Dalit.
On Wednesday, BSP national general secretary and leader of the Opposition in the legislative Council Nasimuddin Siddiqui said that the party will raise the issue of Dalit atrocities and the deteriorating law and order situation in the state in the coming Vidhan Sabha session fromAugust 22.
“law and order has collapsed in UP and Dalit atrocities have spiked but the government does not seem to be bothered. Besides, the faith of the Muslims on Mayawati has increased leading to several Muslim leaders joining the party,” said Siddiqui while speaking to the media soon after joining of three Congress Muslim MlAs and one from SP.
On the other hand, state BJP general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak alleged that the SP government is totally responsible for Dalit atrocities in the state. “The Akhilesh Yadav government has no moral right to rule the state when it cannot protect the Dalits,” he stated.
Newly elected MlC of Congress, Deepak Singh too expressed concern on the rising atrocities on Dalits in the state as well as across the country. “It is unfortunate that the state government like the BJP government at the Centre was doing nothing to protect the life and property of the Dalits and poor,” he said.
Attacking PM Narendra Modi, Singh said, “If a PM, who was responsible for safety and security of every citizen says words like ‘attack me insteadof the Dalits’, and does not take stern action instead, then the life of the poor and down-trodden is leftto providence. The Congress has taken the issue on the floor of the Parliament and this will be raised in both Houses of the UP legislature too.”