Bengaluru, Oct 15 (IANS) Targeting Karnataka’s Rural Development and IT Minister Priyank Kharge over his proposal to ban activities of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Opposition leader in the Legislative Council, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, on Wednesday, alleged that in Congress, some Dalits have enslaved themselves to protect their families.

Speaking to the media at the BJP office in Bengaluru, Narayanaswamy further said, “In Congress, some Dalits have enslaved themselves to protect their families, while the larger Dalit community has been deliberately kept poor. Certain Congress families want to monopolise power, and to safeguard their own positions, they sabotage the future of Dalits in other parties.”

“Priyank Kharge is trying to distract people from remembering his failures, from talking about potholes, and from discussing the plight of farmers affected by rain. He is making different statements just for publicity,” the BJP leader alleged.

“Is the RSS anti-Dalit? Did they take all Dalits and throw them into the Arabian Sea?” he questioned ironically. Narayanaswamy recalled Ambedkar’s words that “the Congress party is a burning house for Dalits; there is no future for you here. Seek your future in other parties.”

Attacking Priyank Kharge again, he asked, “Is there no one more capable than you? You became a minister only due to your father’s blessings. Otherwise, what would you have become? Leaders like Narendraswamy, S.N. Narayanaswamy, Anekal Shivanna, and Prasad Abbayya have all won multiple elections, yet they were sidelined while you became a minister by burying their political careers.”

“You (Priyank Kharge) have been a minister three times only because of Mallikarjun Kharge’s blessings. As long as your father has influence, you will enjoy power, because people fear him,” Narayanaswamy said. He accused Priyank Kharge of sacrificing senior Dalit leaders like Basavalingappa and K.H. Ranganath’s families for his own rise.

“Even today, Dalits are shaping their future in the BJP and JD(S). But Congress spreads propaganda saying that the BJP is like the sanctum sanctorum of a temple, where no Dalit can grow. Is that so? Then how did Hon’ble Droupadi Murmu, Hon’ble Thawar Chand Gehlot, and even I, Chaluvaadi Narayanaswamy, rise? What are you trying to tell the people?” he asked.

“They accuse the RSS of making the poor throw stones, of making them march, and of corrupting their minds. But in reality, the poisonous minds are yours, not the RSS’s,” Narayanaswamy charged.

He also targeted Minister Priyank Kharge, asking, “Is there any sign that you are a Dalit? You are not a Dalit. You have crushed, divided, and destroyed Dalits, and then projected yourself as a victim.”

The BJP leader said people are openly questioning why the wealth amassed in Priyank Kharge’s name as a Dalit is not being used for Dalit welfare. “If it were, all Dalits of Karnataka could have seen an equal and better life,” he added.

–IANS

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