Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday said the Congress has not given Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes their due and that it “insulted” its former president Sitaram Kesri, forcing him to quit.Campaigning for BJP candidate for the Kedarnath assembly bypoll Asha Nautiyal in Rudraprayag, Dhami said the Congress was in power at the Centre for six decades after independence but never thought about giving the top constitutional post to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
“It was when Narendra Modi took over in 2014 that Ram Nath Kovind and Droupadi Murmu rose to the top constitutional post,” Dhami said at an ‘Anusuchit Jati Swabhiman Sammelan’ in Rudraprayag.
“Everyone knows how the party insulted its leader Sitaram Kesri and forced him to quit as (Congress) president,” he said.
Kedarnath which is an assembly segment under Pauri Garhwal Lok Sabha seat goes to polls on November 20.
SC and ST voters together constitute more than 20 per cent of the total electorate in the assembly constituency.
Dhami sought voters’ blessings for Nautiyal, who is also the state BJP Mahila Morcha president.
He said she has served people with dedication for three decades and they should vote for her to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, under whose leadership reconstruction projects worth more than Rs 2,000 crore have been carried out in Kedarnath over the last 10 years.