When in power, SP used to abuse and insult Dalits: UP minister hits back at Akhilesh

Lucknow, April 22 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh social welfare minister Asim Arun hit back at the Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday and called him a ‘symbol of divisive politics’, in an apparent reaction to latter’s criticism of the state government over murder of a Dalit youth in Prayagraj.

“When in power, the SP supremo didn’t lose any opportunity in abusing and insulting the Dalit community. It’s because of their politics of disdain and scorn for the backward classes that they have been reduced to the margins,” said the Minister for social welfare and tribal affairs in a pointed jibe at the SP chief.

Asim Arun’s critique comes on the back of Akhilesh Yadav’s charge that Uttar Pradesh has become the number one state in terms of atrocities against the Dalits.

“BJP government is not only snatching away reservation and freedom, but now the power-protected dominant, strongmen and goons are taking lives,” SP chief had alleged, reacting to the recent murder of a Dalit youth in Prayagraj.

Seeking to turn the tables on SP over its criticism of Yogi government, the UP minister called it a 'coordinated political tactic' of the rival party and accused it of driving a wedge between communities on caste and communal lines for ‘political gains’.

“They want to make discourse poisonous and then benefit from the divide among the communities. On the contrary, the Yogi government is working towards the eradication of evils and progression towards a better lifestyle,” said the former IPS officer.

He further said that the Samajwadi Party's love for the downtrodden classes has come only after it was dislodged from power.

“When Akhilesh Yadav was the Chief Minister, he changed the names of districts and institutions named after Dalit icons and great men from the community, including Bhim Nagar, Mahamaya Nagar and others,” he pointed out.

Further making 'revelations' on discriminatory police postings during the SP regime, the UP minister claimed, “Officers from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe category were not given postings in police stations and tehsils despite the rules. When they were in power, the rights of Dalits were violated.”

He also drew a parallel between the Yogi government and previous regimes in providing state government scholarships and spoke on how a certain community was discriminated against under SP rule.

He informed that this year the state government distributed scholarships worth more than Rs 4,000 crore, which benefited a total of 56 lakh students.

“However, during the SP regime, this number was just 34 lakh, and many scams and corruptions took place, which were unearthed later,” he stated.

--IANS

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