With just four more days of campaigning yet to go, the focus in the Karnataka Assembly polls has shifted to Dalits, who constitute nearly 19 per cent of the population and can influence the outcome in at least 60 seats. Out of the 224 constituencies in Karnataka, 36 are reserved for SCs. On Sunday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi released a video to highlight alleged anti-Dalit mindset of the BJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quick to unleash a counter-offensive, saying, “The Congress does not care about ‘Dil’ (people’s hearts and feelings) or Dalits. They only care about deals.”
With opinion polls showing a close contest, both the parties are desperately trying to reach out to Dalits who constitute the largest single vote banks in the State. That’s the reason Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s name inevitably figures in all the speeches of the Prime Minister and the Congress president.
While 36 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes, data from the past have shown that Dalit voters could influence the outcome of 60 seats. No surprise, both Modi and Rahul are engaged in a bitter war of words over Dalit issues.
Rahul set the tone for the day on Sunday when he said that the BJP and RSS wanted Dalits and Adivasis to exist at the bottom rung of society.
A video, which Gandhi shared on Twitter, shows atrocities against Dalits, including the 2016 Una incident.
“Central to the RSS/BJP fascist ideology, is that Dalits and Adivasis must continue to exist at the bottom
rung of society. In this disturbing video, the dangers of this mindset and how it’s openly propagated by senior RSS/BJP leaders is revealed,” Rahul tweeted with the hashtag #AnswerMaadiModi or Modi must answer in Kannada.
The video also claims that “every 12 minutes, a Dalit faces atrocity, everyday six Dalit women are raped”.
“Why are Dalits constantly prosecuted in Modi’s new India... His silence reflects the mindset of RSS and BJP... Speak-up Mr Modi,” it added.
Modi hit back at the congress while addressing a rally Chitradurga as part of the last leg of his campaigns for the upcoming Assembly elections. Modi on Sunday blasted the Congress for failing Dalits in the State and said the Congress has started fooling and misleading Dalits because they are scared for their vote banks.
“We will have strict laws to protect the rights of Dalits. I belong to the same society as you all and I will support you and fight for you,” he said.
Taking a dig at the Congress, Modi said the party does not care about ‘Dil’ (people’s hearts and feelings) or Dalits. They only care about deals.
The Prime Minister said the Congress is obviously uncomfortable today because the highest offices of the land are occupied by people from poor and humble backgrounds”. That is why now the Congress prefers to mislead in the name of the Dalit community.” he said.
“The Congress humiliated Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. Go to any part of India- wherever you go, things are named after one family. What did this one family do for Dr. AmbedkarIJ They have no time for him,” he said.
“When we had the chance to play a key role in electing the President of India, we did not play party politics. We preferred that Dr Kalam become the President of India. This time, we had the numbers but we preferred that a person from the Dalit community become the president,” the Prime Minister said.
Rahul used an election rally at Kalgi to unleash another round of attacks on the NDA over Dalit issues and questioned the Prime Minister Narendra’s “silence” over alleged atrocities on Dalits and accused him of muzzling Dalit voice in Parliament.
“Modiji talks about (Baba Saheb) Ambedkar, but does not allow Kharge ji (Mallikarjun Kharge) to speak in the lok Sabha. His men (saffron outfits) are crushing and beating up Dalits and tribals across the country, but Modiji does not utter a word,” Rahul told an election meeting here.
The Congress chief’s counter-attack came a day after Modi claimed at an election rally at Kalaburagi that the Congress did not make Mallikarjun Kharge, a Dalit, the Chief Minister of Karnataka even though he was projected for the top post during the 2013 polls.
Kharge, the leader of Congress in the lok Sabha, had hit back at the Prime Minister, saying he does not need Modi’s “crocodile tears” for Dalits or himself.
“They killed Rohit Vemula and beat up Dalits in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, and yet he remains silent,” Rahul, on his 8th visit to election-bound Karnataka, said.
He said the Congress Government in Karnataka was the only one in the country to have added half the money to the funds allocated by the Centre for the welfare of Dalits and tribals, and spent it on them.
Rahul alleged that the money, the Modi Government saved due to fall in international crude oil prices, was given to 5-10 industrialists, instead of spending it for the welfare of weaker sections, Dalits and women.