Did Siddaramaiah join the Congress for a livelihood? asks Dalit leader

Dalit leaders are joining the BJP because of suppression and them being sidelined in the Congress: Ambaraya Ashatagi

Hitting back at Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who had reportedly said that Dalit leaders had quit the Congress and joined the BJP for securing their livelihood, State Vice-President of BJP’s Scheduled Castes Morcha Ambaraya Ashtagi said that the remarks were insulting to Dalit community and their political leadership.

“Speaking at a by-election campaign at Sindgi, Mr. Siddaramaiah had said that Dalit leaders had deserted Congress and joined the BJP for securing their livelihood. It is true that Dalits are increasingly quitting the Congress and joining the BJP these years. For, the Congress had taken the Dalit community for granted and treated it as its vote-bank hardly making any effort for the development of the community,” Mr. Ashtagi said in a media statement released here on Thursday.

Mr. Ashtagi further said that systematically sidelining and suppressing the Dalit leaders in the Congress are the other important reasons for many Dalit leaders deserting the Congress and joining the BJP.