UP Congress to work on Dalit Adhikar Maang Patra

Continuing its Dalit outreach, the Congress in Uttar Pradesh launched a Dalit Gaurav Samvad Programme on Monday.

The Congress has also worked out a Dalit Adhikar Maang Patra (charter of demands) and those attending the party’s programmes in Uttar Pradesh (UP) would be asked to list five demands of Dalits and give their name along with the name of the village and district etc. to bring the issues of the marginalised classes in focus.

The Dalit Samvad Programme that began on Monday, (October 9), the death anniversary of BSP founder Kanshi Ram, will end on Constitution Day i.e. November 26.

The Congress is making renewed efforts to woo the Dalits, the Most Backward Classes and other downtrodden sections, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress is trying to win back its traditional vote bank as the grand old party has been out of power in UP since 1989.

UPCC President Ajay Rai said, “With the Dalit Gaurav Samvad, we will go to villages in Lucknow and other districts to connect with the Dalits and other deprived classes.”

Various political parties have been making efforts to woo the Dalits in the past and holding programmes on the birth and death anniversaries of Dr BR Ambedkar, to connect with them but this is the Congress’ first attempt to reach out to the Dalits by commemorating the BSP founder.

The Congress proposes to connect with 100,000 influential Dalits (250 in every Assembly constituency), across UP. A night chaupal in Dalit areas in every Assembly constituency (total 4,000) has also been proposed. It also proposes to hold Dalit Gaurav Yatras and Press conferences.

“We are seeking a list of 25 Dalit bastis from every district. We will hold the night chaupals there. We are also seeking a list of important Dalit leaders from all the districts. We will issue a circular to all the district party units to hold the Dalit Gaurav Samvad programmes. We will get a large number of Dalit Adhikar Patras filled in the coming weeks,” said UPCC Organisation Secretary Anil Yadav.

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had coined a slogan “Jitni Abadi Utna Haq (rights proportional to the population size)” when he campaigned in the Karnataka Assembly elections early this year. This is quite similar to the BSP founder’s slogan “Jiski Jitni Sankhya Bhari, Utni Uski Hissedari (share of different sections should be in accordance with their population)”.