Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said the Congress boycotted a meeting on the appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner because they “hate Dalits”. On Monday, Heeralal Samariya became India's first Dalit CIC, and was administered the oath of office by President Droupadi Murmu.
As reported by a national daily, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Opposition member in the Prime Minister-headed high-powered selection committee, wrote to President Murmu on Monday, saying he was “totally kept in the dark” about the CIC’s selection.
Modi was speaking in Sidhi district, where the party faced a political firestorm in July when a video emerged of a man with alleged links to the BJP urinating on a tribal man. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had to intervene, meeting the man and washing his feet. The four-time Sidhi MLA, Kedarnath Shukla, was denied a ticket and the BJP had to field a Lok Sabha MP, Riti Pathak, as a damage control measure.
Modi said that only those who attend the “Congress darbar” in Delhi were promoted and a leadership for the SC, ST and OBC society could never emerge.
"Today, the poor, Dalit, OBC and tribal society has understood that the Congress is not their representative. Friends, look at the history of Congress, they have only promoted those who attend their court in Delhi. Congress never let the influential leadership of SC, ST, OBC society emerge," he said.
Saying he had a “puzzle” for the audience, he said: “Sidhi is the birthplace of Birbal and therefore intelligence, wisdom and puzzle solving are traditional strengths of every child here. I want to give a puzzle to today's youth, especially first-time voters… For decades, Congress had Congress governments from panchayat to Parliament in the country, but today it is left in only a few states. Think and solve this puzzle – why did they get ruined?”
“This happened because Congress's slogan has been jeb saaf, kaam half (clean the pocket of one’s money yet do half the work). UP, Bihar, Gujarat, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Odisha – how many states should I count? Once Congress went, they (voters) did not let it enter again. This is also the case in MP; Congress has been longing for a majority for two decades,” he said.
(With inputs from agencies)