'Fascist' BJP wants Dalits to remain at the bottom, tweets Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: As angry protests by Dalit groups in Maharashtra grew on Tuesday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged that the BJP wanted the backward community to remain at the bottom rung of society. Gandhi expressed his views on Twitter on the raging violence that spread from Pune to financial capital Mumbai.

A central pillar of the RSS/BJP’s fascist vision for India is that Dalits should remain at the bottom of Indian society. Una, Rohith Vemula and now Bhima-Koregaon are potent symbols of the resistance.

— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) January 2, 2018

He cited examples of Una violence in Madhya Pradesh, Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula’s suicide and now Bhima-Koregaon calling them “potent symbols of the resistance.” Interestingly, Dalit leader and independent MLA from Gujarat Jignesh Mevani visited the war memorial in the Bhima Koregaon village near Pune where the violence erupted. Congress had backed him in recent Gujarat elections. Mevani had also attended `Elgaar Parishad' held in Pune to commemorate the battle.