Meira’s call to oust KCR

Warangal: Former Speaker of the Lok Sabha and senior Congress leader Meira Kumar has given a clarion call to public to defeat the TRS and BJP in the next elections for their anti-Dalit attitude.

Addressing a massive public meeting organised by various Dalit and tribal outfits under the aegis of the MRPS in Hanamkonda on Sunday, Meira Kumar wanted the people of the state not to send any MP from both the parties to Parliament in the next elections.

She said it was Dalits who made great sacrifices for the cause of separate Telangana. TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao declared that if separate Telangana formed a Dalit would be made the Chief Minister, but he had failed to keep his promise and a Dalit Dy CM he appointed was removed from the post unceremoniously.

“KCR should be removed as Chief Minister so that a Dalit could become the CM of Telangana,” Meira Kumar said. “I hoped that Telangana would become an ideal state where Dalits’ rights would be preserved, and they are honoured. But I am disappointed at what was happening to Dalits and suppressed communities in the state,” the former Speaker lamented.

“Why MRPS leader Manda Krishna Madiga was sent to jail? Is it wrong to fight for Dalit rights?” she posed a question, adding that the TRS must be defeated for deceiving Dalits. “It is not a political statement, I am worried about Dalits’ welfare,” Meira Kumar said. “Former PM Rajiv Gandhi was moved by an incident that took place in Bihar where a large number of Dalits were massacred.

Hence, he introduced the SC/ST Act in 1989. It prevents bail to the accused and the clause was the backbone of the Act. But the Supreme Court changed it. I want to ask the court why it did so. There should be reservations in the judiciary too. So that the rights of the Dalits would be protected,” Meira Kumar said, while asking the audience to support her demand.

She sought to know what happened to the ordinance the Centre proposed to revert the changes the Supreme Court made in the SC/ST Act. The TPCC chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy too wanted the public in Telangana to punish CM KCR for the injustice meted out to Dalit community in the state. Under the TRS rule, Dalits were not safe, he said.

Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha M Mallikarjuna Kharge, party’s SC Cell leader Koppula Raju, CPI general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy, its national secretary D Raja, TDP president L Ramana, TJS president M Kodandaram, Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of Dr BR Ambedkar and many leaders from different organisations from across the country took part in the meeting.