The Bharatiya Janata Party’s prominent Dalit leader, Udit Raj, who joined the party earlier this year and subsequently became the Member of Parliament from the North-West Delhi will participate in a ‘Maha Rally’ organised by the All-India SC/ST Employees Confederation at the Ramlila Maidan here early next month.
Dr. Raj, who was inducted into the party to help consolidate the BJP’s position among the reserved categories, however, said that the rally is being organised by a “socio-cultural organisation” and will not take place under the party banner.
With the Aam Aadmi Party having performed exceedingly well in the reserved seats during the 2013 Delhi Assembly polls, the rally, which Dr. Raj claims takes place each year in different parts of the country, comes at a time when the Capital is once again gearing up for polls.
“We have been meeting every year since 1997. This has little to do with politics. This is a non-political meet which will continue our demand from the government for reservation, promotion, and ban on contract system among other things,” said Dr. Raj speaking to The Hindu on Tuesday.
One of several posters about the rally that has been shared on social networking sites, urges people to ‘March to Delhi’ and ‘Fight for your own rights’. The poster has a picture of Dr. Raj terming him the National Chairman of the All-India Confederation of SC/ST organisations.
Earlier this year, when he was inducted into the BJP, Dr. Raj had said that he would help his party take on the Aam Aadmi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. In the Lok Sabha polls, he had won with a margin of 1,06,802 votes against his nearest rival, AAP’s Rakhi Birla.
