BJP’s anti-Dalit, anti-tribal face exposed with urinating incident: Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that atrocities on tribals and Dalits are increasing under the BJP rule, as he decried an incident in Madhya Pradesh where a man, alleged to be a BJP leader, was seen urinating on a tribal.

The former Congress chief said the real face of BJP’s hatred towards tribals and Dalits was exposed with the “inhuman act.”

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also slammed the BJP over the incident and said that “the inhuman and disgusting act done by a person close to a BJP MLA to a tribal youth in Madhya Pradesh is extremely shameful.”

During the 18 years of BJP rule in the state, 30,400 cases of atrocities on tribals have come to the fore, she claimed “In the BJP rule, there are only empty claims and empty words about tribal interests. Why doesn’t the government take real steps to stop atrocities on tribals?”

Priyanka Gandhi said. A video of a man, purported to be a local BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh, showing him urinating on a tribal person in the state’s Sidhi district recently went viral on social media leading to demands for his arrest from several quarters.

He was rounded up Wednesday after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan called for the immediate arrest of the man, who has since been identified as Pravesh Shukla.

“Atrocities on tribal brothers and sisters are increasing in the BJP rule. The entire humanity has been put to shame by the inhuman crime of a BJP leader in Madhya Pradesh,” Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

“This is the disgusting face and real character of BJP’s hatred towards tribals and Dalits,” he said. MP Home Minister Narottam Mishra said the man’s act was “heinous, condemnable and a blot on humanity.”

MP: Dalits, tribals stage protest in Indore

Dalits and tribals staged a protest at Indore in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday to condemn the incident in which a man allegedly urinated on a tribal youth in Sidhi district of the state. The protesters, under the banner of Akhil Bharatiya Balai Mahasangh, raised slogans and waved placards alleging increasing atrocities on members of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities in the state. Police on Wednesday arrested Pravesh Shukla, who is accused of urinating on a tribal youth in Sidhi district. Action under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) was also initiated. A video of the incident went viral on social media platforms on Tuesday, following which the police registered a case against the accused. (PTI)