Patna: The two major political parties – JD (U) and Congress – have scaled up their efforts to woo Dalit votes before the assembly polls due later this year as Dalits constitute 19.65 percent of the state`s population.
Congress sought to regain its support base among Dalits with Rahul Gandhi participating in two events within three weeks, JD (U) also claimed that its leader and chief minister Nitish Kumar always gave respect to them and their leaders and also worked for their welfare. In his first visit, Rahul addressed ‘Samvidhan Suraksha Sammelan’.
Around 15 representatives of various organisations working for Dalits and Economically Backward Castes (EBCs) were present at the event. Rahul again visited the state capital last Wednesday, this time to participate in the birth anniversary of freedom fighter and Dalit icon Jaglal Choudhary. Rahul`s participation in the birth anniversary function only shows how Congress is serious about winning back the support of Dalits and also broadening its support base among all sections, remarked a political analyst Indrajit Singh.
On the other hand, Nitish has also a strong support base among Dalits as he launched various welfare schemes for them after coming to power in 2005. To counter Rahul`s Dalit outreach initiative, senior JD (U) leader and state rural works minister Ashok Choudhary launched a blistering attack on him and his party. Incidentally, the minister Choudhary is also a prominent Dalit face of JD (U).
“Congress did not celebrate the birth anniversary of Jaglal Choudhary all these years then why it did so this year,” Choudhary asked while accusing the grand old party of celebrating Dalit icon`s birth anniversary with an intention to derive political mileage when the state is going to the polls later this year.
“Rahul`s visits would not salvage his party’s position in the state. Rahul is not an ‘ideologically driven’ leader but a ‘situational’ leader,” he remarked while sharpening his attack on the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha.
JD (U) leader contended that Jaglal Choudhary was a long time Congress leader but Nitish installed his statue in the state even when Congress and its allies ruled the state for so many years. He said that Nitish first raised the issue of caste census much before Rahul did it. “When JD (U) was part of the I.N.D.I.A bloc and Nitish raised the issue of caste census in its meeting held in Mumbai, West Bengal chief minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee objected to it and Congress also kept quiet,” he remarked.
