Party plans a nation-wide campaign

NDA ally Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) is planning a campaign highlighting the pro-Dalit credentials of the Narendra Modi government.

Union Minister and LJP president Ramvilas Paswan told a press conference here on Monday that the campaign is also aimed at exposing the Opposition parties’ ‘doublespeak’ on Dalit issues.

The Dalit rights (Dalit Adhikar) rally and other events will be held across the country. It will begin in Punjab on August 30, Gujarat on September 4, Lucknow on September 5 and Haryana’ Kaithal on September 16, Mr. Paswan said.

A number of other cities, he said, would also be covered under the programme.

He claimed that the Modi government’s decision to strengthen the law on atrocities against Dalits and tribals, besides its advocacy for reservation for these communities in promotion in government jobs have turned the tide in favour of the disadvantaged sections.

With less than eight months left for the Lok Sabha elections, the NDA is making an all-out effort to win over Dalits.

Mr. Paswan said the Opposition parties which used to call the NDA government anti-Dalit have now become silent.

He said the Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party and other parties in the Opposition did nothing for the Dalits and other backward communities (OBCs) when they were in power.

He recalled the passage of a Bill in Parliament which granted constitutional status to the OBC Commission.

Attacking BSP chief Mayawati, he claimed she ‘diluted’ the provisions of the law on atrocities against Dalits in 2007.