The ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh, under fire on the Hathras issue, on Saturday turned combative against the Opposition criticism over the incident. Two Ministers hit back at the Opposition parties on the issue.
“The Opposition doesn’t want the truth to be revealed. They don’t care about the honour of the Dalit daughter. They want to instigate caste riot in the region”, Minister Ramapati Shastri, himself a Dalit, told the media.
Mr. Shastri, who holds the Social Welfare, Scheduled Castes and Tribal Welfare portfolios, accused the Opposition of behaving “irresponsibly” in the Hathras gang rape case of a Dalit girl.
Another Cabinet Minister, Siddharth Nath Singh, accused the Congress of running a conspiracy over the issue. “They want to do politics over Dalits and the body [of the girl]. This is a total conspiracy”, he told an agency.
Mr. Singh accused Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra of indulging in “tourism” by going to Hathras and playing the Dalit card for votes. They wanted to mobilise Dalits and were “searching for their lost votes and lost existence” in view of the coming elections in the country, he added.