Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi on Saturday, 29 August launched a sharp attack on the Indian National Congress and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, accusing the party of harbouring an anti-Dalit mindset and exploiting the community for electoral gain. The two leaders addressed a press conference at the BJP central office in New Delhi.

Congress Accused of Peddling a False Narrative

Paswan alleged that Rahul Gandhi was attempting to construct a misleading narrative around the purported disrespect shown to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, while the party's own conduct told a different story. He showed videos that he claimed depicted Kharge being made to stand outside during Priyanka Gandhi's nomination process in Wayanad, while family members were allowed inside. Paswan also cited footage that he alleged showed former Puducherry Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy carrying Rahul Gandhi's slippers.

Historical Record on Dalit Leaders Cited

Paswan argued that Congress has a documented history of marginalising Dalit leaders, pointing to the treatment of B.R. Ambedkar and Babu Jagjivan Ram. He claimed Jagjivan Ram was denied due credit for India's victory in the 1971 war and alleged that Congress's internal power structures had historically prevented a Dalit from becoming Prime Minister. He further cited what he described as the sidelining of Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara in Karnataka and Kumari Selja in Haryana as more recent examples.

BJP Counters With Its Own Dalit Outreach Record

Paswan said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, social justice has moved beyond rhetoric through representation, scholarships, institutions, and welfare schemes. He noted that Dalits and Adivasis have been appointed Chief Ministers or Deputy Chief Ministers in states including Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, and pointed to Arjun Ram Meghwal's appointment as Union Law Minister as a marker of Dalit representation at the Centre.

Trivedi: Congress Thrives on Division

Trivedi accused Congress and Rahul Gandhi of practising a politics of fragmentation — dividing society along lines of caste, language, region, and gender — while the BJP, he argued, is committed to social harmony. He alleged that Congress's record under Article 370 restricted even highly educated members of the Valmiki community to sanitation work, and pointed to incidents of violence against Dalits under Congress-governed states. 'No matter how many faces are changed, a lie cannot become truth,' Trivedi said.

The Broader Political Context

The press conference comes amid a sustained BJP effort to counter Congress's narrative on social justice ahead of upcoming state elections. Both leaders concluded that a wide gap exists between Congress's stated commitments and its actions, and that genuine Dalit empowerment, they argued, has materialised only under the Modi government through concrete policy rather than slogans.