Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday termed BJP president Amit Shah’s community lunch with dalits in Nalgonda a “big drama” and a “gimmick” and alleged that the food was prepared by someone belonging to the Reddy community at his mango orchard.
“Lunch with dalits means the food has to prepared in a Dalit colony. He should sit on the ground along with Dalits to eat. But the food that was served to him was prepared by one Manohar Reddy at his farmhouse. Amit Shah used a chair and table to eat food while Dalits were standing behind. He insulted Dalits with his act. I got feedback from local Dalits there who told how they felt humiliated and insulted by this,” Mr Rao said.
The Chief Minister alleged that the food that was served at Peddadevulapalli for Mr Shah’s lunch with Dalits was prepared at the local Annapurna mess.
“These is enough proof to show that his community lunch with Dalits was only a gimmick and a big drama. Dalits are hurt by his behaviour,” Mr Rao said.
He said the TRS government was more concerned about the welfare and development of Dalits.
“We recently brought the SC/ST Development Fund Act, which is not present anywhere in the country to allocate higher funds for SCs and STs and ensure their complete utilisation. While the Centre sanctioned just 3.39 per cent of the total Budget for SCs and STs, we sanctioned 15.1 per cent. We allotted Rs 14,375 crore in the Budget for them while the Centre gave just Rs 52,392 crore for the entire country. This shows who is sincere and committed towards welfare and development of Dalits,” the Chief Minister said.
