Sense of 'anger, alienation' among BJP's Dalit leaders: JD (U)

The Janata Dal (United) on Monday said that there was a sense of 'anger and alienation' in BJP's Dalit leaders, as the party had allegedly turned a 'blind-eye' towards recent incidents of violence by cow vigilantes.

JD (U) leader Pawan Verma also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on rising atrocities on Dalits across the country.

"There is very strong justification for both anger and alienation in BJP MPs who are Dalits. The manner in which their own party, more or less, legitimised action against Dalits by turning a blind eye to the manner in which Gau rakshaks and cow vigilantes take law into their own hands. Such incidents are far more in BJP-ruled states. The prime Minister's deafening silence on these activities," Verma told ANI.

"Anyone who is a Dalit would ask, is my party for Dalits or is my party colluding with those who are exploiting and oppressing Dalits? Whatever Mr. Udit Raj or Athawale may say, the truth is that they are trying to put in different words that shows deep disappoint and anger on the behaviour of their party, whose behaviour has been anti-Dalit," he added.

Verma was reacting to the recent war of words between BSP supremo Mayawati and BJP leader Udit Raj. Hitting out at Mayawati, Raj had said that the BSP supremo never spared any emerging Dalit leader.

"Mayawati is always in the news for making statements. Has she done more work than me and Athawale towards Dalits? Whenever another Dalit leader opens his mouth, Mayawati pounces on him," Raj told ANI yesterday.

A day after newly-inducted Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale questioned as to why Mayawati did not embrace Buddhism if she claimed to be Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's follower, the BSP chief hit back at him saying that he was working with an aim to achieve BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's goal of "dividing Dalit votes and making them work as slaves of other parties".