LJP attacks Congress for 'misleading' Dalits

After Parliament restored the stringent provisions of the anti-atrocities law, Ramvilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the Congress and other Opposition parties for “misleading” Dalits on the issue.

Addressing a party function here, LJP president Ramvilas Paswan and his son Chirag fired 14 questions at Congress president Rahul Gandhi, demanding to know why the previous Congress-led governments adopted an indifferent attitude towards Dalit icon B R Ambedkar.

“I want to ask Rahul Gandhi, who claims to be a well-wisher of Dalits, why did his party stand against Dalit icon B R Ambedkar when he contested Lok Sabha elections twice,” Paswan said recalling that the Congress had defeated Ambedkar twice in the Lok Sabha elections from Bhandara and South Mumbai constituency.

Paswan also hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the quick passage of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Bill in Parliament to address concerns of Dalits and tribals.

Training his guns on the BSP, Paswan accused former UP Chief Minister Mayawati of diluting the anti-atrocities law by issuing guidelines to police to make arrest under the law only after investigating the complaint.

Paswan accused the Samajwadi Party of opposing a bill for reservation in promotion for Dalits. “Like all the opposition parties, they are also anti-Dalits and so is the grand alliance,” the Union Minister said.