BJP Dalit leaders warn of repercussions

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 1

Though the Yogi Adityanath government has set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the Hathras gangrape, the incident has dented the image of the saffron party in Uttar Pradesh, claim several BJP Dalit leaders. Some of them have even warned the leadership regarding the likely political repercussions in UP, say sources.

Not just the Dalit MPs, but Brahmins too have been alleging “selective targeting” ever since the death of gangster Vikas Dubey in a police “encounter” in July. The Brahmins were taken by surprise after the BJP picked Yogi as CM.Though a ‘mahant’ of the Gorakhnath sect, they do not see Yogi as one of their own. Dubey’s killing has only strengthened the perception that the Yogi government is ‘anti-Brahmin’.

Amid the rising caste tensions, the BJP today accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of resorting to “theatrics” over the death of a Dalit woman to “resurrect” his political career.

“Crime against women, Dalits in particular, is rampant in Rajasthan, but politics takes them to UP,” remarked BJP IT cell in charge Amit Malviya. “When your sympathy for the victim depends on the social and religious identity of the violator or the state in which the crime happens, then you are part of the problem. Those obsessing about the identity of the accused in Hathras are silent on Balrampur and Bulandshahr….” he added.