2 months ago
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Leader of Opposition successful the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, aims to mobilise Dalits successful Uttar Pradesh for the Congress enactment and sharpen the party’s wide societal justness centric narrative, by demanding Bharat Ratna for Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) laminitis Kanshi Ram.
Promising to travel the precocious leader’s way by warring for the issues of marginalised sections, it has unsettled the BSP and its person Mayawati, portion the Congress enactment successful U.P. is enthusiastic astir Mr. Gandhi efforts, hoping the continuous outreach towards Bahujans volition further consolidate the Dalit, Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) enactment successful favour of Congress, which was seen successful 2024 Lok Sabha.
Mr. Gandhi, successful the past fewer days, took aggregate moves signalling bold outreach towards Dalits, through Kanshi Ram. Addressing a ‘Samvidhan Sammelan’ programme connected March 13, organised by the authorities legislature successful Lucknow up of the Kanshi Ram’s commencement anniversary, Mr. Gandhi claimed that if his great-grandfather, India’s archetypal Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, had been live astatine the clip of Kanshi Ram’s rise, helium would person been made Chief Minister from the Congress.
“If Jawaharlal Nehru were alive, past Kanshi Ram would person been a Chief Minister from the Congress,” helium said and accepted that the Congress was unsuccessful successful afloat discharging its responsibilities successful the past, which forced leaders similar Kanshi Ram to illustration their ain governmental path.
On Kanshi Ram’s commencement day connected Sunday (March 15, 2026), helium wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, for Kanshi Ram. The outreach is simply a renewed effort to prosecute with the Dalits, a ample societal radical constituting astir 21% of the full electorate successful U.P. and positioning the Congress arsenic the staunch advocates for the issues faced by the marginalised community.
“At present, erstwhile the atrocities against Dalits person reached a caller tallness nether the BJP authorities successful Uttar Pradesh, the ideas of Kanshi Ram, the laminitis of BSP and Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti (DS-4), are much applicable than ever successful the State. Our leader, Rahul Gandhi, is raising the issues of the Dalits and each marginalised sections vocally. It is truthful earthy that ideas of Kanshi Ram and B.R. Ambedkar centered astir societal justice, animate him. If you look astatine the Congress party’s agenda, societal justness is astatine the core,” said Anil Yadav, a elder U.P. Congress leader.
Unsettled with the outreach, Ms. Mayawati, the president of the BSP, accused the Congress of perpetually trying to weaken the BSP, the enactment founded by Kanshi Ram, done assorted tactics.
“This aforesaid Congress party, portion successful powerfulness astatine the centre, did not state adjacent a azygous time of nationalist mourning upon his (respected Shri Kanshi Ram’s) death, nor did the Samajwadi Party authorities successful Uttar Pradesh state a authorities mourning. Now, each these parties are constantly trying to weaken the BSP, the enactment founded by the respected Shri Kanshi Ram, by utilizing assorted tactics. Therefore, their followers and supporters should ever beryllium vigilant against them. Especially, they indispensable beryllium wary of the Congress Party, whose anti-Dalit reasoning and mentality is what led to the enactment of the BSP,” she alleged.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) is not straight reacting to Mr. Gandhi’s attempts but signalling that each the demands are already raised by the U.P. Centric party. “We each privation Bharat Ratna for precocious Kanshi Ram Ji,” said the SP president Akhilesh Yadav.
Analysts constituent retired that bold assertions by Rahul Gandhi request to construe into enactment connected the crushed to displacement a sizeable Dalit enactment successful favour of Congress.
“It is simply a information that a conception of Dalit votes shifted to Congress-led INDIA confederation successful 2024 polls, with the 'save the constitution’ plank of Mr. Gandhi moving successful opposition’s favour. But, bold assertions and acceptance of Congress unsuccessful successful afloat discharging its responsibilities successful the past by Rahul Gandhi, has limitation, for gaining a ample and continuous Dalit enactment his words request to construe by Congress workers done enactment connected crushed by warring for issues concerning Dalit assemblage astatine section level overmuch similar the BSP utilized to bash successful 1990s and aboriginal 2000s,” said Asad Rizvi, a Lucknow based analyst.
