Karnataka elections: Rahul battles BJP-RSS on Dalit welfare

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday advised Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "copy" and implement centrally the Congress-led Karnataka governments sub plan for the welfare of the Dalits and Adivasis.

He said that since the Prime Minister was good at "repackaging" the Congress-led UPA government's schemes, he could try his hand at this one too.

"The Karnataka government's revolutionary SC/ST sub plan allocates 24 % of all resources to Dalits and Adivasis as per their percentage of population. Since Prime Minister Modi is skilled at repackaging and claiming credit for Congress schemes, this is a good one for him to copy centrally," said Rahul in a series of tweets.

Rahul accuses BJP-RSS of wanting Dalits to exist at bottom rung of society

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that the BJP and RSS wanted Dalits and Adivasis to exist at the bottom rung of society. Gandhi shared a video on Twitter showing atrocities against Dalits, including the 2016 Una incident.

"Central to the RSS/BJP fascist ideology, is that Dalits and Adivasis must continue to exist at the bottom rung of society. In this disturbing video, the dangers of this mindset and how it's openly propagated by senior RSS/BJP leaders is revealed" Gandhi tweeted.

The video also claims that "every 12 minutes, Dalits faces atrocity, everyday six Dalit women are raped". "Why are Dalits constantly prosecuted in Modi's new India... His silence reflects the mindset of RSS and BJP... Speak-up Mr Modi," it added.

RSS retorts: Congress' campaign is political swindle based on lies

Spitting fire a day after Rahul Gandhi posted a video highlighting the BJP and RSS leaders' "anti-Dalit" stance, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Monday hit back terming the Congress chief and his party's campaign a "political swindle based on lies".

"The Congress party and its President continue to try and misguide the society with their lies and deceit. The official Facebook page of Rahul Gandhi has shared a blatant lie in the name of Sarsanghchalak Mohanji Bhagwat and me. In that he has claimed that the RSS intends to end the reservations granted to the SC/ST communities by the Indian constitution," RSS joint general secretary Manmohan Vaidya said in a statement.

Vaidya said "these allegations are a white lie and absolutely baseless".

Vaidya said the constitutional provisions of reservations for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are because of the social inequalities that unfortunately exist in the Hindu society. "It has been the official stand of RSS that these reservations should continue."

Both Modi and Gandhi have been busy in election campaign in Karnataka that is due to vote on May 12, which the Bharatiya Janata Party making a strong bid to unseat the Congress. Karnataka will vote in the assembly elections on May 12. The state has 23.5% Dalit population.

Inputs by NH Web Desk