New Delhi: Rahul
Gandhi reached out to the Dalits on Tuesday and urged for more
representation for the community in the Congress party. He attacked
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati, saying she was not allowing
other Dalit leaders to rise.
The Congress vice-president said the Dalit community "needs the escape velocity of Jupiter" to achieve success.
He
dwelt on astronomy to explain the phenomenon of escape velocity -- or
the speed that an object needs to be travelling to break free of a
planet or moon's gravity.
Addressing a function on National Awareness Camp for Scheduled
Castes Empowerment at Vigyan Bhavan, Rahul Gandhi said BR Ambedkar was
the first Dalit to attain escape velocity and after him Kanshi Ram
channelised "the energy that was created due to reservation" and helped
many Dalits attain escape velocity.
But he said Mayawati, Bahujan
Samaj Party (BSP) leader and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister, had
captured the Dalit leadership and was not allowing others to rise.
The
Congress leader said if the movement for escape velocity has to be
taken forward it needs the participation of lakhs of Dalit leaders. He
said he has asked prominent Dalit leaders in the Congress to
systematically develop leadership at "panchayat, MLA, MP and policy
level".
At another function at Talkatora Stadium to mark Dalit
Adhikar Diwas (Dalit rights' day), Mr Gandhi described the Dalits as the
"reed ki haddi" or spine of the Congress party.
To loud cheers
of "Rahul Gandhi zindabad", "Rahul Gandhi is the messiah of the
downtrodden" and the "India's rising star", he said the Congress party
would do everything to empower the Dalits.
"Congress is the party
for the poor, our opposition does not understand the problems of the
poor. They don't go to their homes and hold their hands or discuss their
problems. And then they speak of India shining. And lose the polls.
They lost it in 2004, in 2009 and will lose again in 2014," he said.
लखनउ. कल यूपी के सीएम अखिलेश यादव अपने मंत्रिमंडल का विस्तार
करेंगे. इसमें कुछ राज्य मंत्रियों को कैबिनेट मंत्री पद पर प्रमोट किये
जाने और दो नये मंत्रियां को शामिल किये जाने की संभावना है. 
