Rahul Gandhi attempts to woo back Dalit vote

Gandhi was speaking at National Awareness Camp for Scheduled Castes Empowerment in Delhi

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday attempted to regain the Dalit and Scheduled Caste vote that had over time shifted to parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), citing a “big opportunity” for the party. Gandhi was speaking at the National Awareness Camp for Scheduled Castes Empowerment in the capital.

While recognising the contribution of Dalit leaders like Mayawati, he nonetheless said, “She did not let other leaders grow”. Recalling Dalit icons B R Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram (the BSP founder), he spoke of the “escape velocity of Jupiter” needed by a Dalit to uplift himself. The hashtag #escape velocity trended on social media site Twitter through the day.

Significantly, Gandhi has been wooing the Dalits for some time now trying to get back the traditional vote bank SCT/ ST which had ceded to the BSP over the past two decades.

In August, addressing another Dalit gathering he had assured that Congress would be the backbone in the Dalits in times to come. He had then too, pointed out how Mayawati was the only Dalit leader that had emerged and emphasized that there was need for more Dalit leaders to grow.     

Meanwhile, the central investigating agency CBI decided to wind up its probe in the Disproportionate Assets case against Mayawati, triggering off speculations of a political motive behind the move.

Gandhi, made sure that he lauded the Dalit icons of BR Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram and their pioneering effort. In his inimitable style he said, “The escape velocity for earth is 11.2 km/sec while that of Jupiter is 60 km/sec. In India we have the concept of caste. There is an escape velocity here also. For a Dalit to achieve success the escape velocity required is that of Jupiter. More effort is needed”.  

Recalling that both Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram after him had achieved that he said,  "If you want to take this (Dalit) movement forward, then one Dalit leader or two Dalit leaders would not be enough. Lakhs of Dalit leaders are needed.... The leadership of the movement has been captured by Mayawati. She doesn't allow others to rise," Gandhi said.  

The Congress Vice President pointed out that some of the legislation pushed forward by the UPA government; "Recently the Manual Scavenging Bill was passed. It should actually be called the Right to Self-Respect Bill," he said.

Speaking at another programme to commemorate ‘Valmiki Jayanti’, Gandhi referred to the recent Ordinance controversy. Gandhi said, “I was told by a journalist that the opposition is saying you chose the wrong time to speak. I asked if there is a right time to speak the truth. If you choose the time to speak the truth then it is not the truth but falsehood”.