Neglect of Dalits will cost Congress dear: Makwana

Hyderabad, June 15 (UNI) All India Congress Committee Scheduled Castes Department Chairman Yogendra Makwana today said any neglect of the Dalits, who formed the backbone of the Congress, would cost the party dear.

Participating in a state-level meeting of the department at the Gandhi Bhavan, the former Union Minister expressed displeasure over the absence of Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy as also his Dalit Cabinet colleagues for the ''all-important meeting'' of the department to prepare it for the party's success in the 2009 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

Except for State Labour Minister G Vinod, his other Cabinet colleagues, including Municipal Administration Minister K Ranga Rao, Major Industries Minister J Geeta Reddy, Small Scale Industries Minister G Surya Rao, Health Minister S Chandrasekar and School Education Minister C Damodar Raja Narasimha were absent.

The Congress had been thrown out of power in various states, including Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan, due to neglect of the Dalits, Mr Makwana, who had evolved the Special Component Plan for the uplift of the Dalits during the Indira Gandhi regime, opined.

Taking a cue from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati, the Congress should work for a grand alliance of SCs, STs, Other Backward Classes and minorities ahead of the next polls, he underscored, adding that otherwise the BSP would make inroads into other states, including Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, in a big way.

UNI