The Lok Janshakti Party, a BJP ally, will reach out to people nationwide to highlight the pro-Dalit measures taken by the NDA government, ahead of the 2019 General Election.
LJP secretary-general Abdul Khaliq said the party would hold events in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Karnataka, among other States, and its leader and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan would take part in some of them.
While the party enjoys little clout outside Bihar, the BJP believes that the vocal support by a Dalit ally like Mr. Paswan, a key voice in the government on issues of the community, would help the alliance. The BJP has also asked its leaders, especially those from the Dalit and tribal communities, to reach out to their people, following the passage of a Bill to restore the stringent provisions of a law to curb atrocities on the communities.
Mr. Khaliq said the Centre had gone out of the way to ensure the passage of the Bill as the matter was in the Supreme Court.
Dalit votes will be crucial to the NDA, especially in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In U.P., the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party have joined hands, and in Bihar, the Opposition, led by Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal, has won over Dalit leaders like Jitan Ram Manjhi and Uday Narayan Choudhary.
On Saturday, Mr. Paswan had questioned the pro-Dalit credentials of the Opposition parties, and posed 14 questions to Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
