Rahul announces day-long fast

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the “oppressive ideology” followed by the BJP and the RSS did not allow them to respect the architect of the Constitution, B.R. Ambedkar.

Mr. Gandhi directed his party colleagues to go on a day-long fast on April 9 to “protect and promote various sections of society” in the wake of the violence on April 2 during the Bharat bandh called by various Dalit organisations.

‘Very unfortunate’

A statement issued by Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot said, “What has happened on April 2, during the Bharat bandh protest was very unfortunate; it is very dangerous for the social fabric of this country.”

Tweeting in Hindi, Mr. Gandhi said, “Modiji, you belong to an oppressive ideology that can never respect Dalits and Babasaheb. Here are some examples.”

He put out a collage of photographs of Ambedkar statues vandalised across the country including in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu.