Representatives of Dalit organisations boycotted a meeting convened by Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda in Vidhana Soudha on Wednesday to discuss problems faced by Dalit communities in the State.
Accusing Mr. Gowda of pursuing ‘divide and rule' policy, leaders of various Dalit organisations alleged that some prominent Dalit organisations had been intentionally not invited to the meeting and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Republican Party of India (RPI), which represent Dalits, had been equated with Dalit organisations.
Upset over not inviting Dalit leaders such as Lakshminarayana Nagavara, Guruprasad Keragodu, V. Nagaraj, D.G. Sagar and N. Giriyappa for meeting, they said this showed the lack of concern of the BJP Government towards Dalits.
They set December 5 as the deadline for the Government to “correct its mistakes” and convene a meeting of representatives of all Dalit organisations.
Representatives of Dalit organisations opposed to temporary shifting of B.R. Ambedkar's statue from the Vidhana Soudha premises to facilitate Namma Metro work said any attempt in this regard would result in grave consequences.
Attempts made by Mr. Gowda to assuage the feelings of Dalit leaders failed to yield results.
