At Dalit event, Scindia seeks to build bridges with Mayawati

Months after his party fought the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls in alliance with the BSP's arch-rival SP, senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia today appeared to be reaching out to Mayawati while he tore into the BJP for "growing attacks" on Dalits in Madhya Pradesh as well as the rest of the country.
"I cannot utter the words that were used by some BJP leaders against bahen (sister) Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh. Had someone from the Congress done this, the leader would have been expelled from the party," Scindia told a Dalit convention organised by his party in Mungaoli in Ashoknagar district.

Scindia was apparently referring to Uttar Pradesh BJP leader Dayashankar Singh, who was booked last year for allegedly using derogatory words against the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo.
Singh was booked under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and suspended from the party posts. However, his suspension was revoked after his wife won the Assembly polls in March this year.
In his address, Scindia, the Congress chief whip in the Lok Sabha, cited different incidents of "rising atrocities on Dalits across the country".
Raking up the Una incident in Gujarat wherein some Dalit youths were flogged last year, allegedly by cow vigilantes, Scindia said the BJP has destroyed the social accord and communal harmony in the society.

"BJP has shattered the communal harmony in the country. BJP was looking for the caste of Rohith Vemula (a Dalit student of the University of Hyderabad) instead of expressing regret when he killed himself. Atrocities against women and Dalits have gone up since the BJP came to power in Madhya Pradesh," the Guna MP said.

Scindia said "atrocities against Dalits" have also risen in Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's Assembly constituency Budhni.
"Atrocities against Dalits have reached such a level that 50 Dalits in Chouhan's own constituency have asked for euthanasia. A Dalit woman had committed suicide with a child in Budhni," he said.

Madhya Pradesh is going to polls next year.
Scindia alleged that the BJP wanted to finish reservation in education and government jobs for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes..
"BJP wanted to end reservation. But we will not allow them to do so," he said.
Scindia's attempt to woo Dalits is in line with the party vice-president Rahul Gandhi's outreach to backward classes.
In poll-bound Gujarat, the Congress is trying to win over Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani in a bid to corner the ruling BJP in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state.
Scindia termed as "sham" the state government's newly- introduced 'Mukhyamantri Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana (MBBY) which seeks to compensate farmers when prices fall below the MSP, saying it is not going to benefit farmers.

Earlier in the day, when asked about the clean chit given to Chouhan by the CBI in the Vyapam scam case, Scindia said, "We should wait for the court's verdict. We should not conclude on the basis of the CBI's submission."
The central investigation agency filed the charge sheet in a Bhopal court yesterday.