Dalits still suffering: Motamma

BENGALURU: At a time when Dalits within the Congress are unhappy that their leader was not accommodated as deputy chief minister, senior leader and CWC member C Motamma launching a veiled attack against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for his style of functioning on Saturday, charging that the state government’s ambitious Akrama-Sakrama scheme had become a powerful weapon in the hands of the real estate mafia rather than help residents across the city.

Speaking at the death anniversary of Indira Gandhi at KPCC office here, she said, “The Akrama-Sakrama scheme which was envisaged to help Dalits and the poor living in slums, but in reality this scheme is hurting them most as real estate mafia is using this as a weapon to evict them.”

She alleged that most of applications under Akrama-Sakrama scheme were from real estate agents and not individuals. “These centres have become a den of corruption, where the common man fears to even enter,” she charged.

Veteran leader, M.V. Rajasekharan reiterated his demand that home minister Dr Parameshwar should be elevated as Chief Minister, in the state, “I welcome the party's move to induct him as a home minister. But, he should be given the deputy chief minister’s post at least whenever the cabinet is reshuffled in the near future,” he added.

Meanwhile, KPCC president, Dr G. Parameshwar came down heavily on BJP and RSS over politics involving consumption of beef.

“We are in a country where we learn to accept each individual as a human being, and beef politics initiated by the Sangh Parivar will surely harm the country's secular fabric,” he added.

Lashing out at leaders of RSS for their views on the reservation policy, Dr Parameshwar dared them to scrap the quota system itself. “How can they do it? It is the right of oppressed classes, who have been denied everything for several centuries,” he added.