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Courtesy: Mail Today
Modi on an overdrive to woo Dalits in Gujarat
D. P. Bhattacharya
Ahmedabad, April 25, 2010
It appears Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has gained a headstart
over Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari in trying to
woo the Dalits.
Modi, who had maintained a strictly caste- neutral image, has of late
been singing praises of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar.
And if Gadkari made it a point to visit Mhow, the birthplace of
Ambedkar, only during the party's national executive meet at Indore in
February, Modi had cast his net much earlier.
On the Republic Day's eve, Modi took out a gigantic rally in the
Dalit- dominated Surendranagar town of Saurashtra. A decked- up
elephant carrying an oversize model of the Constitution was taken in
procession as part of the rally, a salute to Ambedkar.
Then again on April 14-Ambedkar'
government released full- page advertisements in the state's
vernacular dailies. These newspapers also carried a piece by Modi
taken from his to- be- released book on social equality.
Even the invitation to Modi's book release event-scheduled for
Monday-carries a photograph of Ambedkar besides that of the chief
minister himself.
Modi has also published a link to his article on his blog, which, too,
was started on April 14 last.
The first post on the blog is about Ambedkar and carries a photograph
of the Dalit icon. "Today is (April 14), the 118th birth anniversary
of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. I pay my humble tribute to this great
personality who was born in the underprivileged section of the society
and overcame the difficulties and challenges he faced. His mantra was:
'Educate yourself, come together and stand for your rights,'" the post
reads.
While it remains to be seen how effective such overtures will be,
there are rumours in the BJP state unit that they are the result of
Modi's aspirations to stake claim at the Centre as the next OBC leader
of the party. Modi belongs to an OBC community in north Gujarat called
Ghanchi.
A senior member of the Gujarat BJP said: "He has maintained a
caste-neutral image at the state and national levels. However, to
stake claim at the Centre, he will need an edge over the others. And
what could be better for it than acceptability among the scheduled
castes? As it is, the party has not been the first choice of scheduled
castes."
Not everyone in the party agrees, though. "Such a paradigm shift may
not go down well with the core constituents of the party, comprised
mostly of upper caste people," a BJP functionary said.
But if there are doubts about Modi's moves within the BJP, the Dalits
have their man marked.
"He (Modi) may now be warming up to Dr. Ambedkar for political ends,
but nothing significant has been done to change the lot of the Dalits
in Gujarat in the past 10 years," said Jitendra Makwana, a Dalit youth
from Ahmedabad.
"The BJP has been writing us off as it knows the Dalits will never
vote for the party. Some BJP workers even told us they won't take
Dalit votes," he added.
Manjula Pradeep, a Dalit rights worker, said: "Such gestures from Modi
stem purely from a political agenda." "He is hoping to erase the
blemish of the communal riots in 2002 with such gimmicks," she said
and added that if Modi was serious about Ambedkar and his philosophy,
he should ensure the Dalits' right to enter temples across the state.
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