A Dalit PM from Congress ranks?
In a move to repulse Mayawati's charge for prime ministership, Congress has expressed the hope that it would give the country's first Dalit PM. The claim has been made in party's mouthpiece Sandesh.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: In a move to repulse Mayawati's charge for prime ministership, Congress has expressed the hope that it would give the country's first Dalit PM. The claim has been made in party's mouthpiece Sandesh .
Quoting the party organ, an agency report said, "After all, our party has given the country its first and only woman PM and also its first PM from one of the minority communities."
AICC secretary and Sandesh editor Anil Shastri said in his article, that important positions have been held by SC leaders at the national and state-level. D Sanjivayya was also the AICC president while, he said, Congress gave to the country the first President and home minister from the community. "I do hope that some day in the future, Congress party gives India its first Dalit PM," he said in the article ���Vision with Action: The Congress way for Dalit empowerment���.
The claim may amuse many given the party's dependence on the charisma of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. But it begins to make sense when seen in the context of Mayawati's determined attempt to poach the Dalit votebank largely identified with Congress especially in MP, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Karnataka. Dalits here have so far favoured Congress, helping the Congress cope with the challenge of BJP and regional parties.
A dent into the few social strongholds that the party has will be a blow to its hopes to wrest the control from BJP in these states and acquire the necessary momentum with which it can go to the Lok Sabha polls with confidence. The Congress predicament in directly taking on Mayawati's ambition results from its being seen as trying to sabotage the legitimate political aspirations of the rising Dalit leader.
Insiders feel that the party would have to flaunt its record of Dalit welfare to stop the emerging rival from succeeding in her designs.
While Dalits represent a core part of Congress' rainbow alliance, the BSP, with a strong rhetoric and ideological push, has managed to fire the imagination of the community.
Quoting the party organ, an agency report said, "After all, our party has given the country its first and only woman PM and also its first PM from one of the minority communities."
AICC secretary and Sandesh editor Anil Shastri said in his article, that important positions have been held by SC leaders at the national and state-level. D Sanjivayya was also the AICC president while, he said, Congress gave to the country the first President and home minister from the community. "I do hope that some day in the future, Congress party gives India its first Dalit PM," he said in the article ���Vision with Action: The Congress way for Dalit empowerment���.
The claim may amuse many given the party's dependence on the charisma of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. But it begins to make sense when seen in the context of Mayawati's determined attempt to poach the Dalit votebank largely identified with Congress especially in MP, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Karnataka. Dalits here have so far favoured Congress, helping the Congress cope with the challenge of BJP and regional parties.
A dent into the few social strongholds that the party has will be a blow to its hopes to wrest the control from BJP in these states and acquire the necessary momentum with which it can go to the Lok Sabha polls with confidence. The Congress predicament in directly taking on Mayawati's ambition results from its being seen as trying to sabotage the legitimate political aspirations of the rising Dalit leader.
Insiders feel that the party would have to flaunt its record of Dalit welfare to stop the emerging rival from succeeding in her designs.
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While Dalits represent a core part of Congress' rainbow alliance, the BSP, with a strong rhetoric and ideological push, has managed to fire the imagination of the community.
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