Congress props former aide to counter Dalit ki beti Mayawati
Published: Thursday, Nov 4, 2010, 1:52 IST
By Deepak Gidwani | Place: Lucknow | Agency: DNA
The Congress has found its Dalit mascot for Uttar Pradesh (UP) to
contest Mayawati, in Panna Lal Punia, the party MP from Barabanki.
Punia, who has apparently been appointed chairman of the National
Scheduled Castes Commission as part of this strategy, has started his
job in the right earnest.
That the objective of his two-day Lucknow visit was "mission Mayawati"
was evident from the very first words he uttered at a press meet here
on Wednesday.
"The situation in UP is the worst as far as Dalit atrocities are
concerned… even the rate of rise in crimes against the scheduled
castes in the country is the highest in UP," he said.
"These are not my statistics… these are the figures given by the state
government to the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau)," he added.
Interestingly, Punia, a retired bureaucrat, was once known for his
proximity with Mayawati. In fact, he was the Dalit icon's eyes and
ears during her first two tenures as chief minister. He was a
co-accused in the Taj corridor scam along with Mayawati, but he later
turned approver for CBI against his mentor.
Punia also took the Mayawati government to task on the Special
Component Plan (SCP), a scheme designed for the uplift of the Dalits.
"I have been receiving a string of complaints about the misutilisation
and diversion of SCP funds… in at least two districts, SCP funds have
been used to build hospitals," he said.
He flayed the Mayawati government for its "poor" record in
registration of FIRs in cases of Dalit atrocities. "I am holding a
constitutional post… I am not dabbling in party politics, but this is
the ground reality in UP," he asserted.
Interestingly, on his first UP tour after taking over as SC commission
chairman, Punia is being accompanied by Kamal Kishore "Commando", the
only other Dalit MP (besides Punia) that the Congress boasts of among
its impressive band of 22 MPs from UP. Kamal Kishore's presence is
more than symbolic since he is an elected member of the powerful
parliamentary committee on SC/ST welfare.
Punia was in an aggressive mood from the word go. "We are getting
constant complaints that FIRs of Dalits are not registered (in UP)…
there are also complaints about delays in investigation… clearly, the
state government is insensitive to Dalits," he said.
However, he was quick to point out that he had also taken up similar
issues in Congress-ruled states. "I am only concerned about Dalits'
welfare…. I have raised the issue of diversion of Rs700 crores from
SCP funds for the Commonwealth Games by the Delhi government…. I have
also objected to utilisation of SCP funds for beautification in
Andhra," he explained.
Punia alleged the Mayawati government tried to thwart his visit and
top officials had not provided him with required data on Dalits in UP
despite reminders.
"The (UP) officials have been putting off a meeting on Dalits' issues
on flimsy grounds… now they have asked me to fix it after December 6
(Ayodhya demolition anniversary)," he said.
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