BJP Future - 7

[G.Subramaniam]

Hindu



BJP ropes in Dalit allies to up secular score



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New ties Dalit leader Udit Raj being inducted into the BJP by its President

Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Monday. RAJEEV BHATT

New ties Dalit leader Udit Raj being inducted into the BJP by its President Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Monday. RAJEEV BHATT

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Udit Raj joins party; talks on with LJP for poll pact



NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 24:

The BJP seems rather anxious to bag ‘secular’ trophies in the run-up to the general elections. The party on Monday rolled out the red carpet for two Dalit leaders who have so far been trailing the Congress.



The BJP has reportedly offered seven seats in Bihar to Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Ram Vilas Paswan, whose alliance arithmetic with the Congress and Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is not working to his advantage.



Simultaneously, Dalit leader Udit Raj, whose Indian Justice Party has about 1 per cent vote in Uttar Pradesh, formally joined the BJP on Monday afternoon.



BJP President Rajnath Singh seemed elated with the proceedings, especially as both Paswan and Udit Raj have been fierce critics of the Sangh Parivar’s Hindutva politics for over a decade now. Paswan deserted the National Democratic Alliance in the wake of the 2002 riots in Gujarat and Udit Raj has had several skirmishes with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) over his bid to convert Dalits to Buddhism.



Udit Raj himself has converted to Buddhism, changing his name from Ram Raj in the process.



Although alliance talks with Paswan had not been finalised, a top BJP source said the party is ready to offer him seven seats in Bihar, an improvement over the three or four that Lalu is willing to concede to the LJP.



Seat-sharing



While the party is facing resistance from its Bihar unit, especially with regard to the Nawada and Araria seats where the BJP’s Pradeep Kumar Singh and Bhola Singh had won in 2009, the top leadership believes the arrival of Paswan has a symbolic meaning.



The BJP’s projection of Narendra Modi had cost the party a valuable ally in the form of the Janata Dal (United). Paswan’s decision to back the BJP will be a big boost in proving Modi’s credentials in attracting allies that come with a secular tag.



That also explains the big fanfare with which Udit Raj was welcomed in the party headquarters on Monday afternoon by Rajnath Singh.



“Today we welcome a famous, learned man in our midst. In Dr Udit Raj, we have won not just someone who campaigns for Dalit rights but a scholar who has a vision for India,” said the BJP President.



Change of stance



On his part, Udit Raj extolled Modi’s virtues and promised to join forces in the fight against “Bangladeshi infiltrators and Islamic terrorists”. “Jo kaam Congress ne das saal mein nahin kiya, voh Mananiya Narendra Modi ki badhti hui raftaar karegi (Narendra Modi’s growing clout will do what Congress has not done in 10 years),” Udit Raj said.



This is a long way off from his earlier avatar as a staunch anti-Hindutva campaigner who had organised a massive rally in Delhi’s Ambedkar Stadium after the Gujarat carnage in 2002.



Since then, Udit Raj has been consistently campaigning against the BJP and its affiliates in the Sangh Parivar.



“What worries the Sangh Parivar is not the welfare of Dalits but a possible reduction in upper-caste Hindu numbers. Their prejudice is so entrenched that they are not in a position to sense the agony of those who suffer under the caste-based system.



“In general, Hindu believers treat the disadvantaged as sinners reaping the fruits of a past life. Thus, a leper is to be shunned; the exploitation of Dalits is justified. On the contrary, a Christian finds an opportunity for spiritual fulfilment in serving the leper and healing the sick,” Raj Udit had said in a signed article on October 25, 2008.



The BJP is clearly chuffed to have caused the dramatic turnaround. “We do not consider anyone an untouchable. We do not recognise untouchability. Hindu religion is the supreme way of life,” said Rajnath Singh while welcoming Udit Raj