Friday, June 23, 2017

Dalits meant for only votes

All political parties are vying for Dalit votes. All treat them as a vote bank, and nothing else. The electoral process for the presidential election is underway. Ram Nath Kovind is the NDA nominee. He is a Dalit leader and he has already filed his nomination papers as a NDA candidate for the presidential election, which is going to be held on July 17. The consensus effort failed, and contest in the election is a foregone conclusion. Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with all top BJP, its allies and their leaders, CMs of about 20 states and NDA ministers accompanied NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind to file nomination papers before the Secretary General of Lok Sabha. It was a grand show of strength. NDA displayed their strength as it was comfortably placed to win the presidential elections. As number is in favour of NDA in the Electoral College for the election of the president, Kovind's victory is a foregone conclusion. Ran Nath Kovind has been a BJP’s Dalit face. He is from Uttar Pradesh and had also been the member of Rajya Sabha for two consecutive terms. He also headed the BJP Dalit Morcha and was closely attached with party's doting parent the RSS. Before being declared as NDA nominee for presidential election, Ram Nath Kovind was the Governor of Bihar. It is BJP president Amit Shah, who disclosed that Kovind come from Dalit background. So, his being a Dalit is the prime factor for him for the top constitutional post of the nation. The main responsibility of the President is to protect the Constitution and promote constitutional norms and values. The President is not of any party, but of the country. At least for the sake of statement, the post of President is above political affiliation, though it is not so. As NDA declared the name of a Dalit as its presidential nominee, Congress-led opposition of 17 parties also declared the name of Meira Kumar, former Lok Sabha Speaker, daughter of the Dalit icon former deputy prime minister Babu Jagjivan Ram and a five-time Lok Sabha MP and Dalit woman, as their presidential nominee. So, the contest will be Dalit Vs Dalit in the presidential election. Though the number is not in favour of the opposition candidate Meira Kumar, it is an ideological fight. Congress-led Opposition did not like to give the walk over to NDA. As far as the political stature of NDA and Oppn nominees is concerned, later is more popular than the former. Meira Kumar is more experienced and politically popular than Ram Nath Kovind. Both are well-educated. But both do not appear like Dalits. They are not poor. They are well off. No Dalit leader so far in the country belongs to poor family like his or her other brethren. Neither any Dali leader nor govt. so far in India has worked for the uplift of Dalit society. These handfuls of Dalit leaders belonging to different political parties have exploited their community by assuring them falsely that they protect their rights and shares in the govt. Most of the Dalit leaders of all political parties are well off and solvent. As Dalits constitute 20 percent of country's population, there is a race among the political parties to tempt them for political benefit. Even after about 70 years of Independence and about 63 years of the implementation of the Constitution, no perceptible in the lives of Dalits are noticeable. The ruling NDA has made the election of the President caste based as it announced the caste of its candidate Ram Nath Kovind. Congress-led Opposition was forced to go Dalit candidate to contest the presidential elections. The matter of the fact is that neither the ruling BJP nor the Opposition Congress has nothing to do with the uplift of Dalits. Both eye on them because of their being the largest numbers in the country. Former President late K R Naranyanan was a Dalit. What benefit did the Dalit community get during his tenure of presidency? Babu Jagjivan Ram was a towering Dalit leader of the country. But Dalits as a community did not get anything. All the Dalit political leaders only exploit their community to benefit themselves.

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