india

Updated: Apr 30, 2019 21:52 IST

Dalit leader and Member of Parliament Udit Raj on Tuesday alleged that a dalit can rise to any position in the BJP only if he is “deaf and dumb” and said President Ram Nath Kovind was nominated to highest office because he did not raise his voice in the party.

“In BJP, a deaf and dumb Dalit leader can reach any position. First they made one such leader the national president and later the President,” he said.

He clarified that he was not commenting on the office of the President but referring to condition of dalits in the BJP.

Udit Raj recently joined the Congress after the BJP denied him a ticket from North-West Delhi constituency from where he was elected in 2014.

He claimed that President Kovind came to him with his bio data in May 2014. “Ram Nath Kovind came to my house on May 21, 2014 with his bio-data and wanted me to recommend his name for a position in the party. I even tried. Later, he was made Governor and then the President,” he said.

“The BJP doesn’t want a Dalit leader, they only want Dalit votes.... If I were also deaf and dumb, they may have made me the Prime Minister if the situation so demanded,” he said.

Hitting at BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi he alleged no one can be more dangerous than BJP and RSS for Dalits – voting for them is against the nation.

BJP spokesperson Mukesh Pareek said it is BJP which made Udit Raj an MP and a leader and his statement was unfortunate. “BJP takes all castes and community together. It would have been better if Raj had seen the behaviour of Congress with their Dalit leaders such as Sitaram Kesari and Jagjivan Ram,” he said.