The Congress today dubbed the dining of an Uttar Pradesh minister at a Dalit household after bringing his own food and water as "hypocrisy" and a "drama".
Condemning the incident, Congress leader Rajiv Shukla accused the BJP and its leaders of being "hypocrites" and said instead of indulging in such "drama", they should ensure justice and protection to the members of the backward community.
Dalits across the country were a worried lot as they feared that the BJP was out to commit atrocities on them, he claimed.
"This is a very big hypocrisy by the Uttar Pradesh government, which should instead provide protection to them (Dalits) as, across the country, they are feeling insecure under the BJP rule.
"The entire country should condemn this and (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi should tell (Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister) Yogi Adityanath not to resort to such things and instead, work for the welfare of Dalits," the Rajya Sabha member told reporters.
He alleged that it was in the nature of the BJP leaders to resort to such "drama".
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"All they do is hypocrisy and drama. They only show off and pretend," he said, referring to the incident involving Uttar Pradesh minister Suresh Rana, who dined at a Dalit house after reportedly bringing his own food and mineral water from a restaurant.
Rana, however, has rejected the allegation, saying, "The food was prepared in the village, by the villagers themselves."
The BJP leader's clarification came against the backdrop of reports that he and his aides had gone to the house of the Dalit family to dine with them on Monday night, but ordered food, mineral water and cutlery from outside as the family was not aware of the minister's visit.
Pictures of the well laid out dining table with an assortment of dishes and cutlery went viral on the social media.
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