Dalit Mahasangam : Bhopal

BJP is a well-wisher
of Dalits: Advaniji
From Our Correspondent

Bharatiya Janata Party national president Shri Lal Krishna Advani said that unlike those political parties which showed their concern for dalits for the sake of votes, the BJP did not believe in vote-bank politics. The party's thinking was that if it honestly served dalits they would get associated with the party, Shri Advani added.

He was addressing BJP's national scheduled castes convention at Dussehra Maidan, TT Nagar, Bhopal. The party has repeated its stand against the reservation based on religion and supported the reservation based on caste in its Mahasangam organised by BJP SC Morcha.

Praising highly the scheme introduced by the Vice-President of India Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat during his days as Rajasthan chief minister, Shri Advani said under the scheme five poorest families of every village were selected in Rajasthan and the then State government provided them job opportunities.

The scheme was in consonance with the spirit of Pt Deendayal Upadhyay's 'antyodaya' ideology for the uplift of the poorest person in the society, Shri Advani added.

He said even the world leaders who visited Rajasthan could not help but praise the scheme. He said he would like to know from the Chief Ministers in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh, probably by the month end, what they had done for the weaker section of the society. He would soon call a meeting of all the five Chief Ministers of the BJP-ruled States to take into account what they have done for the weaker sections of the society including the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

Shri Advani said Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary would fall tomorrow. This reminded him of his other mission while struggling for the country's independence, that is, to work for dalits so that they could get their due place in the society.

Thus, the three leaders Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and Pt Deendayal Upadhyay had a common goal of uplift of the dalits.

He said in the RSS shakhas there was no discrimination among people on the basis of castes. This background was the main reason why the BJP leaders viewed the society with a holistic view. Once Gandhiji the Sangh shakhas, and he was surprised to see that all sections of the society were treated equally there.

Former Union minister Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi said the dalits could not remain isolated in the society. Their progress was, prerequisite for progress of the nation. BJP would lend its support to them in fight for their rights, he added.

Shri Joshi said there was a dangerous attempt going on in the country to alienate dalits from their mainstream, hence the talk of reservation for Christian dalits. Reservation was meant for those who were victimised in society in the past because of ills in the social system, he said.

The BJP vice-president Venkaiah Naidu said the Central Government might see a change in near future. He said he faced this question everywhere as to how long this Government (the UPA Government) would run.

The BJP was not in a hurry (to get to power) but he strongly believed that the future was theirs. Senior BJP leader Sushree Uma Bharti and the BJP's national SC cell president Shri Ram Nath Kovind advocated a national debate on reservation in private sector.

They rejected demands from certain political quarters for reservation to Christian dalits in jobs. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh highlighted his government's schemes for the weaker section of society.

The State BJP in-charge Shri Kailash Joshi and the State BJP president Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan underlined the efforts made by State Government for social and economic progress of the dalits.

Others who spoke included BJP national vice-president Shri Omprakash Khatik, former MP Smt. Anita Arya, MP Shri Narayan Kesari, senior leader Shri Sanghpriya Gautam, Minister for School Education Dr Gaurishankar Shejwar, former Union Minister Shri Satyanarayan Jatia, MP Shri Thavarchand Gehlot and State BJP Scheduled Caste cell president Shri Veerendra Kumar. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shri Babulal Gaur could not attend the programme because of rescheduling of his flight from the US.