Yogi Adityanath pays tribute to former chief minister Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna on his birth anniversary at the Assembly, in Lucknow on Wednesday. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath would visit a Jatav’s house in Amroha district’s Mehndipur village for dinner on Thursday as part of his Dalit outreach. He would stay for a night at RSS-run Saraswati Shishu Mandir school in Mehndipur after visiting Gajendra Singh’s house.
Adityanath would hold a chaupal in the Dalit-dominated village in presence of officials. He would later inaugurate development projects at a public meeting in nearby Hasanpur.
“The village was selected from a list of villages. The chief minister would have dinner at the house of Gajendra Singh whose wife, Priyanka, is a pradhan,’’ BJP’s Amroha district president Rishi Pal Nagar told The Indian Express.
“About 60 per cent population of Mehndipur is Dalit.”
Nagar said the RSS cadre was working to make the visit successful. He added Gajendra Singh does not hold any BJP post but was associated with its ideology. “Fifteen people would have the dinner. They include chief minister, local MP Kanwar Singh, minister Chetan Chauhan as well as local MLAs and selected leaders of the local BJP unit.” He said it is for the first time that a chief minister would directly interact with the locals in this manner.
The ruling BJP has intensified its Dalit outreach over the last fortnight with Adityanath holding chaupals in villages with the community members.
Adityanath had on Monday visited another Dalit Dayaram Saroj’s house in Pratapgarh’s Kandhai Madaupur village to have dinner with him before staying for a night at a school there. Ambedkar Mahasabha had earlier given him the ‘Dalit Mitra’ (Friend of Dalit) award while the organisation’s head Lalji Nirmal was appointed as Uttar Pradesh Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation chairman.
The Opposition has dismissed the outreach as a “publicity stunt” without “right intention”. The BJP hit back saying the Opposition was troubled as a chief minister was personally interacting with Dalits, staying at their villages to get first-hand information about their issues.
Congress state President Raj Babbar said they are not against Adityanath’s visits, but questioned his intentions. “He takes his own towel, which is laid before he sits anywhere. His staff goes with him, while there is no stringent action against culprits of Dalit atrocities,’’ he said.
“The Dalits he is visiting are subordinates of the BJP people in the region. It is all a facade as they want to divert attention. Both (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi at the Centre and Yogi in Uttar Pradesh are good at it,” he said.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has called Adityanath’s visits to Dalit villages a “mere election gambit” and alleged that he brings his own food and utensils to eat.