BJP to talk to its Dalit MPs to address their grievances

New Delhi: Pushed on the back foot over the Supreme Court’s SC/ST Act ruling and its own MPs speaking in dissenting voices on ‘encroachment’ of Dalit rights, BJP on Sunday said it will talk to these MPs to address their grievances. Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and social justice minister Thawar Chand Gehlot at a press meet said the Dalit MPs will be heard even as they charged Congress, SP and BSP with being responsible for the Dalit protests becoming violent.

“We will talk to our Dalit MPs. If they have grievances, we will look into them,” Prasad said, adding under PM Modi all grievances will be redressed The assurance has come after five Dalit MPs of BJP said they aren’t being heard, atrocities against Dalits are rising, Constitution may be rewritten to deprive them of their rights and their caste brethren are being targeted after the successful April 2 protests against the SC judgement.

North West Delhi MP Udit Raj had tweeted on Saturday: “Dalits are tortured at large scale after April 2 country-wide agitation. People from Badmer, Jalore, Jaipur, Gwalior, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Karoli and other parts calling that not only antireservationists but police also beating and slapping false cases.”


There are reports that PM Modi has summoned UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath to discuss the matter. Prasad and Gehlot charged Congress president Rahul Gandhi and BSP chief Mayawati with engaging in “false propaganda” to mislead people.