Dalit and SC/ST organizations extended their support for the Congress in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dismissed thousands of cases of illegal land grabbing, thereby undermining justice to the SC/ ST community, members from the Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Lands (PTCL) Kayde Bhoomi Vanchithara Horata Samithi said in a press conference.
Meanwhile, in a separate press conference, members of Dr B.R. Ambedkar Federation of Dalit Organizations alleged that the BJP has decided to change the constitution promulgated by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
Venugopal, executive committee member of the PTCL Kayde Bhoomi Vanchithara Horata Samithi said the organization will support the Congress in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, as after the Congress government came to power, they amended the PTCL Act to remove the time limit for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) to reclaim their land. The PTCL Act was to provide for the prohibition of transfer of certain lands granted by the government to persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the State, according to Indiacode.
“In the past, we held dharnas and staged protests for months at the Freedom Park. But the then BJP government didn’t respond to our demand,” he said.
He added that they will file an appeal in the Supreme Court immediately after the election, as the new amendment does not give them full justice.
They also said the previous Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai didn’t keep his promise when he asked the Samithi to withdraw its strike in Freedom Park.
Speaking to the press, PTCL Samithi president Manjunath said that Congress has always stood by Dalits but the BJP is against Dalit community. “After Indira Gandhi, Congress has been supporting Dalits. We got back our land through PTCL,” he said.
In another press conference, Sridhara Kaliveera, Founder and State President of the Federation of Dalit organization said that BJP and Janata Dal Secular are deceiving the voters through their ‘Sankalpa Patra’ which is full of fake promises. He alleged that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) works with the ulterior motive of winning 400 MPs to gain majority in the Parliament and change the Constitution.
Alleging that the RSS, BJP and JDS want to bring back inequality and oppression, Kaliveera said members from his organization do not want the BJP to win. The Nyaypatra or the Manifesto, issued by the Congress party, highlights social justice, employment opportunities, economic policies and steps to mitigate climate change and employment for women, he said.
M. Gurumurthy Shivarma, State Working President and Union State Coordinator of the Karnataka Dalith Sangharsha Samithi (KDSS) said that congress took into account Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub Plan Act (TSP) in its Nyaypatra. He also said “Nyaypatra contains promises of five justices like farmer justice, women justice, youth justice and shramika justice and announces the elimination of economic inequality.”
Narasimhappa , a lawyer from Alternative Law Forum Bangalore said the concerns raised at the press conferences were just. “Under the BJP government, petrol, diesel, housing etc. have become costlier, whereas the Congress government gave the public subsidies on essential commodities.”
Anupama VM and Varidhi Goyal contributed to the story.
