Siddu slams BJP for not inducting any Dalit MP from K’taka in Union Cabinet

Team Udayavani, Jun 5, 2019, 4:00 PM IST

Image for Representation

Bengaluru: Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah hit out at the BJP for not inducting a Dalit MP from the state in the Union cabinet, saying “upliftment” of the community will not happen just by “big talk”.

Five Dalit candidates of the BJP had won from Karnataka in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

“Upliftment of Dalits won’t happen just by big talk. In the recent elections several BJP candidates have won from reserved constituencies. Best wishes to them. Despite this not even one Dalit MP from the state has got representation in the Union cabinet. Is there a bigger injustice or betrayal than this?” Siddaramaiah tweeted in Kannada.

ಬಾಯಿ ಬಡಾಯಿ ಮೂಲಕ ದಲಿತರ ಉದ್ಧಾರ ಆಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಮೊನ್ನೆ ನಡೆದ ಚುನಾವಣೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ರಾಜ್ಯದ ಮೀಸಲು ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕೂಡಾ ಬಿಜೆಪಿ ಅಭ್ಯರ್ಥಿಗಳು ಗೆದ್ದಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಅವರಿಗೆ ಅಭಿನಂದನೆಗಳು. ಹೀಗಿದ್ದರೂ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಸಚಿವ ಸಂಪುಟದಲ್ಲಿ ರಾಜ್ಯದ ಒಬ್ಬ ದಲಿತ ಸಂಸದನಿಗೂ ಅವಕಾಶ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿಲ್ಲ. ಇದಕ್ಕಿಂತ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಅನ್ಯಾಯ, ದ್ರೋಹ ಬೇರೇನಿದೆ?

— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) June 4, 2019

Calling Siddaramaiah Twitter Ramaiah, the Karnataka BJP hit back at him and asked him to make veteran party leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who lost in the Lok Sabha polls, the chief minister, if he really cared for Dalits.

People are also aware that it was Siddaramaiah who prevented G Parameshwara (now deputy chief minister) from becoming the chief minister as he was a Dalit, it alleged in a tweet in Kanada.

“Respected Twitter Ramaiah. Don’t show your love towards Dalits only through your tweets. People of the state know that you averted chief minister position to G Parameshwara (now deputy chief minister), as he was a Dalit. If you really cared for Dalits make Mallikarjun Kharge, who has lost election- the CM,” the Karnataka BJP tweeted.

ಮಾನ್ಯ ಟ್ವಿಟರ್‌ ರಾಮಯ್ಯನವರೇ, ದಲಿತರ ಮೇಲಿರುವ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಪ್ರೀತಿಯನ್ನು ಬರೀ ಟ್ವಿಟರ್ ಮೂಲಕ ತೋರಿಸಬೇಡಿ. ಜಿ.ಪರಮೇಶ್ವರ್ ಅವರು ದಲಿತರು ಎಂಬ ಕಾರಣಕ್ಕೆ ಸಿಎಂ ಸ್ಥಾನ ತಪ್ಪಿಸಿದ್ದು ತಾವೇ ಎಂದು ರಾಜ್ಯದ ಜನತೆಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತಿದೆ. ದಲಿತರ ಮೇಲೆ ತಮಗೆ ನಿಜಕ್ಕೂ ಕಾಳಜಿ ಇದ್ದರೆ ಸೋತಿರುವ ಮಲ್ಲಿಕಾರ್ಜುನ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ ಅವರನ್ನು ಸಿಎಂ ಮಾಡಿ ತೋರಿಸಿ. https://t.co/4Q2GiwtdIQ

— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) June 5, 2019

Lok Sabha members from Karnataka– Pralhad Joshi (Union parliamentary affairs minister), D V Sadananda Gowda (Union chemicals and fertilizers minister) and Suresh Angadi (minister of state for railways) were inducted into Narendra Modi’s council of ministers last Thursday, apart from Nirmala Sitharaman (Union finance minister), who was elected to the Rajya Sabha from the state.

The induction of Gowda from the Vokkaliga community and Angadi from the Lingayat community is considered as a balancing act to give representation to the two dominant communities of Karnataka in the Union cabinet.

Joshi and Sitharaman are Brahmins.

State BJP leaders are hopeful of more representation for Karnataka in the next round of expansion of the Modi ministry, including for Dalits and Lingayats as more number of seats were won by the communities- nine in all.

In the Lok Sabha polls, the saffron wave had swept the entire state, with the BJP winning 25 of the 28 seats, breaking barriers of caste and region.

Though Lingayats were considered as a vote bank of the BJP and Vokkaligas for JD(S) and to an extent of the Congress, a larger consolidation of Hindu votes in favour of the saffron party, including from backward classes and Dalits, was seen in this general elections.

Region-wise, the BJP that was considered to be strong in Mumbai Karnataka, the state’s coastal belt and to an extent in Hyderabad Karnataka, has made inroads distinctively into the Old Mysuru region this time, which was earlier said to be a battlefield reserved for the Congress and JD(S).