The Hindu : National : Gujarat BJP seeks details of Rajkot Dalit meet

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 27, 2005

National

National

Gujarat BJP seeks details of Rajkot Dalit meet

Special Correspondent

Dissidents had shared the dais with the Congress to denounce Modi Government

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat BJP president Vajubhai Vala has sought a detailed report about a convention of Dalits in Rajkot where party dissidents shared the platform with the Congress to denounce the Narendra Modi Government in the State.

The main organiser of the convention, organised under the aegis of the Dalit Mahapanchayat Samiti, was the dissident BJP member of the Assembly, Sidhhartha Parmar, who with several thousand Dalits from the Saurashtra region and some other parts of the State, took a vow to fight for justice. Leaders on the dais symbolically raised guns skywards, shouting anti-government slogans.

15 resolutions

The convention adopted some 15 resolutions, the main contention being that the welfare measures for Dalits, such as scholarships to students and bicycles to the girl students of the community and other schemes introduced by the previous Keshubhai Patel Ministry, had been discontinued by the Modi administration.

Expressing lack of confidence in the present Government, the convention raised the demand for a separate "Dalitstan'' carved out of the State where they could be ruled by members of their community. Mr. Parmar even offered to "sacrifice his life'' for the cause of the Dalits. The Congress Mayor, Gauriben Sindhav, the former Mayor, Mansukh Chavda, Manhar Makwana, MLA, and several other Congress leaders belonging to the Dalit community also attended the convention. They lambasted the Modi Government for inept handling of Dalit welfare schemes, and not caring to fill the reservation quota in government jobs and educational institutions or carry forward the backlog to benefit the weaker sections of the society.

Mr. Parmar said Dalits could no longer be taken for granted and through the convention he had "conveyed the message to the right persons.'' Leadership concerned

The convention had caused serious concern to the BJP leadership because it would not only whip up anti-BJP sentiments among the weaker sections on the eve of the municipal corporation and panchayat elections expected soon, but it also indicated joining of hands by the dissidents with the Congress against Mr. Modi.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National