Atrocities on tribals and Dalits increasing under BJP: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that atrocities on tribals and Dalits are increasing under the BJP rule, as he decried an incident in Madhya Pradesh where a man, alleged to be a BJP leader, was seen urinating on a tribal.

The former Congress chief said the real face of BJP's hatred towards tribals and Dalits was exposed with the "inhuman act." Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also slammed the BJP over the incident and said that "the inhuman and disgusting act done by a person close to a BJP MLA to a tribal youth in Madhya Pradesh is extremely shameful."

During the 18 years of BJP rule in the state, 30,400 cases of atrocities on tribals have come to the fore, she claimed "In the BJP rule, there are only empty claims and empty words about tribal interests. Why doesn't the government take real steps to stop atrocities on tribals?" Priyanka Gandhi said.

A video of a man, purported to be a local BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh, showing him urinating on a tribal person in the state's Sidhi district recently went viral on social media leading to demands for his arrest from several quarters.

He was rounded up Wednesday after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan called for the immediate arrest of the man, who has since been identified as Pravesh Shukla.

"Atrocities on tribal brothers and sisters are increasing in the BJP rule. The entire humanity has been put to shame by the inhuman crime of a BJP leader in Madhya Pradesh," Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

"This is the disgusting face and real character of BJP's hatred towards tribals and Dalits," he said.

MP Home Minister Narottam Mishra said the man's act was "heinous, condemnable and a blot on humanity." Asked about Congress' demand for a "bulldozer action" against the accused, Mishra, who is also the state government's spokesperson, told PTI, "Bulldozer action is not taken at Congress' demand...bulldozer is used only when there is an encroachment."

Earlier in the day, Mishra told reporters that the accused had been arrested, as he spoke of a "bulldozer" action without taking any names. The term became popular after the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government razed several properties owned by alleged criminals with bulldozers. On Tuesday, an official from the MP Chief Minister's Office said a case was registered against Shukla under Indian Penal Code sections 294 (obscene acts), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace), and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The stringent National Security Act has also been invoked against him, he added.