Shah politics: Bathing with Dalits, dining with Dalits.

Amit Shah’s Kalawati moment; dines with Dalits in Varanasi village

BJP attempt to woo Dalit votes back; Mayawati mocks Shah drama

Agency Report | Lucknow/Varanasi | 31 May, 2016 | 11:30 PM

The BJP and its chief Amit Shah have repeatedly taken swipes at Rahul Gandhi for his Kalawati moment in 2008 when he dined and stayed at a Dalit widow’s home in Vidarba. Today the Shah of Blah felt the need to do the same with one eye on the Uttar Pradesh elections next year.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday slammed Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah over his dining at a Dalit’s house in Varanasi, saying that Samajwadi Party leaders don’t indulge in “such drama”.

Bahujan Samaj Party leader and former Chief Minister Mayawati too criticised Shah, similarly terming his action a “nautanki”.

In an oblique dig at Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister said that earlier too one political leader used to dine at the homes of Dalits, but always carried with him a “Bisleri bottle”.

“The results of the elections in Uttar Pradesh were for everyone to see. That is why we don’t indulge in such drama,” Akhilesh Yadav said, referring to the Congress’ poor electoral showing in the state elections.

Shah on Tuesday dined at the home of Girija Prasad Bind in Jogiyapur village of Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mayawati, slamming the BJP chief’s move, said it was “no less than a nautanki” (drama).

“The BJP can never be well-wishers of Dalits,” she said.
Amit Shah had lunch with a Dalit family here as part of the party’s mass contact expansion programme ahead of next year’s assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

Shah was welcomed with drum beats and garlands when he arrived at Jogiyapur village in this district and sat down later with the family of Girija Prasad Bind to have lunch.

The Dalit family is said to be a great supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who represents Varanasi in Lok Sabha, and spent most of the previous night preparing for Shah’s visit.

Local BJP workers and leaders had started arriving in Jogiyapur on Monday night.

Shah had taken a sacred bath in the Kshipra river with Dalit sadhus at the Simhastha Kumbh in Madhya Pradesh earlier this month.

The BJP president is scheduled to address a public rally in Allahabad on Tuesday evening. (IANS)