State Congress president Raj Babbar on Thursday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the growing atrocities on Dalits across the country.
"Modiji had launched a Swachcha Bharat Abhiyan to clean the country. Now I understand that the call was made by the PM to wipe out the Dalits and downtrodden sections of the society like garbage,” asserted Babbar.
He was speaking to media persons before sitting on a two-hour long 'maun dharna' (silent protest) in front of the statue of Gandhi at GPO Park to protest the assault on Dalits at a village in Gujarat.
Babbar said that since the BJP formed the government at the Centre, there has been a wave of reports of atrocities on Dalits across the country.
Reacting to the recent remarks of sacked BJP leader Daya Shankar Singh against BSP chief Mayawati, the Congress leader termed it as 'highly objectionable'.
"Such derogatory words should not be used against anyone in the society. It is a matter of shame. I demand stern action againstthe culprit particularly as it has been made against a woman," asserted Babbar.
On Thursday noon, Congress leaders and workers of staged a statewide 'silent demonstration' led by Raj Babbar to protest atrocities against Dalit atrocities in Gujrat.
Beside Babbar, AICC secretaries Zuber Khan, Rana Goswami, Nasib Singh and Prakash Joshi and leaders like Rajesh Mishra, Satyadeo Tripathi, Amarnath Agarwal, Siddharth Priya Srivastava, Virendra Madan, JP Singh, Maroof Khan, MlA Aradhna Mishra and Rita Bahuguna Joshi also joined the protest.
UP Congress spokesperson Sanjay Bajpai said that similar protests were also held in other district headquarters of the state on Thursday.
later in the day, Babbar met with four newly appointed UPCC vice-presidents – Imran Masood, Raja Ram Pal, Bhagwati Prasad Chowdhary and Rajesh Mishra. Former minister RPN Singh, who was also nominated as UPCC vice-president, did not turn up for the meeting. Sources said that Babbar discussed about the upcoming programs planned to orchestrate a revival of the Congress ahead of the 2017 polls.