Cong, BSP trying to draw political mileage from Guj incident:

BJP today lined up its Dalit leaders to mount a strong defence of the party and its government in Gujarat after the Opposition accused it of being anti-Dalit following the attack on some community members in that state over skinning of a dead cow.
Union minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot hit out at Congress and BSP for their attempts to draw "political mileage" from the incident and insisted that the Gujarat government had acted promptly.
The crime followed by the attempts of some Dalits to end their lives in protests has seen BSP and Congress launching sharp attack on BJP.
The community's votes are crucial in many states, especially Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, both of which are going to the polls next year. BJP has been trying to woo them vigorously since Narendra Modi came to power in 2014.

Referring to the Modi government's project to develop five places associated with Dalit icon B R Ambedkar, Gehlot said that its attempts showed that no party was more beneficial to the community than BJP.
With the Opposition targeting the party's ideological fountainhead RSS over the matter, Gehlot, who has had a long stint in various RSS affiliates, said it had nothing to do with the matter and the criminals involved in it will be punished.

He asked Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal and BSP chief Mayawati not to visit the state due to the prevailing tense situation there and said any such trip will prove that they were interested in politicising it.

Flanked by other Dalit ministers, Arjun Ram Meghwal and Krishna Raj, Gehlot said the Gujarat Police had arrested 17 people and a senior CID official was probing the case.
"In two months, charge sheet will be filed. Strong action will be taken. Senior state ministers have met the victims. We will give all assistance, including financial, to them," he said.
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Gehlot, addressing the press conference, said Opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Mayawati and Arvind Kejriwal did not visit Kerala and Agra when Dalits were killed.
He alleged that Congress and BSP were doing politics with an eye on the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls slated next year, and claimed Opposition parties raised similar issues before the Bihar Assembly elections last year and "forgot" about them after that.

He also raked up the Mirchpur case in Haryana, in which Dalits were killed and many of them were forced to leave the village, when Congress was in power in the state with Bhupinder Singh Hooda as the chief minister.
Gehlot, a Dalit face of BJP, also appealed to the people of Gujarat to observe restraint and not to do anything that causes tension in the society and harms the country.
Dalits have been agitating in the state, protesting alleged inaction of the state government.
Congress has claimed that the violence against them was "BJP-sponsored" as it was trying to polarise communities ahead of the state election to be held next year.

"I have been trying to speak in Rajya Sabha over the issue for three days but they (Opposition) are unwilling to listen. They are trying to politicise it while we are doing everything to provide the justice to victims," Gehlot said.