Gandhi said the Congress' slogan is 'count' because that would be the first step towards justice.
Following on the footsteps of Barack Obama, a Dalit should be made the prime minister of India and Union Minister Ramvilas Paswan is the ideal candidate, the National Dalit Front said on Wednesday. "Change is taking place at a global level. The time has now come for India to have a Dalit prime minister," Udit Raj, the secretary general of the recently-launched NDF said in New Delhi.
Congress wants to change the Constitution and rob Dalits, OBCs of quota benefits for religion-based reservation, Modi said.
The Dalits were accused of stealing a bike.
Every young diploma and degree holder in the country will have the right to apprenticeships in the private and government sectors, he said.
'Young Dalits are looking for better educational opportunities, more job avenues in the private sector, which need not necessarily mean job quotas, but a more welcoming corporate world that offers a liberated social environment, essentially a new India.'
'The wave of terrorism is over in Kashmir. Local people do not support it.'
Why Dalit leaders cross over to the BJP
The party also demanded the formation of a commission of inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court judge on the clashes between Dalit groups and supporters of right-wing Hindu organisations during the 200th anniversary celebrations of the Bhima-Koregaon battle in Pune that left a man dead on January 1.
'Taking forward the ideology of Babasaheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and Kanshiram sahib for 'Bahujan Hitaay - Bahujan Sukhaay', the Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshiram) announced Chandra Shekhar Aazad as candidate from Gorakhpur Sadar (322) seat,' the party said in a statement on social media.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla recognised Rahul Gandhi as the leader of opposition on Wednesday, a day after the Congress communicated its decision to name him for the position to the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
The organisations include the Human Rights Watch, the Centre for Human Rights and the Global Justice at New York University School of Law, and the International Dalit Solidarity Network.
Hours ahead of Janata Dal-Secular MP Prajwal Revanna's scheduled return from abroad to face the law over sexual abuse allegations, the Karnataka government on Thursday said the next course of action, such as cancellation of his passport, will follow if he fails to show up as promised.
Mevani, after his meeting with the Gandhi scion, said he would ask his community members to defeat the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the Gujarat polls.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday made serious allegations against the Congress and said the grand old party has in its election manifesto expressed its intention to implement the 'Sharia law' in the country and redistribute people's property.
He said he was committed to the welfare of Dalits and other oppressed sections of the society but some people cannot digest that "Modi is pro-Dalit".
Leaders and members of the Hindu community rue the fact that they are not given proper representation and many are not even registered as voters.
'The 16th and 17th Lok Sabha and the 2017 assembly election show that Dalits and OBCs are moving towards the BJP.'
Akhilesh Yadav's stock rose dramatically on Tuesday with his Samajwadi Party cutting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party down to size in Uttar Pradesh.
Nearly half a century later, Shyam Benegal's Manthan will be showcased in restored print at this year's Cannes Film Festival. It still serves as a much-needed reminder of setting aside differences in the favour of combined progress and profit, notes Sukanya Verma.
Congress leader K C Venugopal and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's T R Baalu walked out of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's office, refusing to endorse NDA candidate Birla without being offered the Deputy Speaker's position.
Incidents of arson, firing and vandalism were reported from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab as protesters agitated against the dilution of the SC/ST Act.
Apna Dal-K leader Pallavi Patel made it clear that the party was no longer an ally of the SP which is a member of the INDIA bloc.
The Congress on Sunday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his 'redistribution of wealth' remarks targeting the party, saying after facing 'disappointment' in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls, the PM has now resorted to 'lies' and 'hate speech' to divert people from the real issues.
Facing protests from a section of the Rajput community over Union Minister Parshottam Rupala's remarks, the Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajasthan's Chittorgarh -- a Rajput-dominated seat -- is hoping that the 'Modi factor' and the development work undertaken by his government will help it retain the Lok Sabha constituency.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Friday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party for playing the 'dalit card' to defend Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti over her controversial remarks and claimed she did not belong to the community.
'The Opposition parties will continue to woo Chandrababu Naidu even though he has said he will support the BJP.'
Azad said the Bhim Army will run parallel to the party and continue to fight for Dalit rights and enrol new members.
Amnesty International on Friday asked the Kerala authorities to ensure an independent investigation into allegations of police inaction in a case involving the rape and brutal murder of a 30-year-old Dalit woman in the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday vowed to thwart alleged attempts to rob Dalits and backward classes of reservations by the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) which he accused of 'enslavement' and performing 'mujra' for Muslim vote bank.
Manjhi said Paswan has never raised a voice for rights of the Dalits and the poorest of the poor.
'The Dalits have always asserted themselves, but there has never been any gain for Dalits.' 'But now the most significant thing that has emerged, and which has got all the political parties in denial mode, is the assertion of smaller OBCs along with the Dalits.' 'I accept that the Dalits by themselves are not in a position to make a Mumbai bandh successful.' 'It was only because of the participation of the smaller OBCs that the bandh has become a success.'
Fresh protests erupted on the University of Hyderabad campus on Tuesday over the alleged suicide by Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula even as members of a social outfit tried to hold a demonstration outside the residence of Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, who has been accused in the suicide case.
The Lucknow bench of the high court also directed the state government to lay down modalities for cremation in Hathras-like situations. Considering the sensitivity of the issue, the court directed UP officials, political parties and all others to avoid making any statement in public on it.
The BJP got the benefit of a split in Muslim votes in some seats of western UP, and its candidates registered wins from Muzaffarnagar, Kairana, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Baghpat and Aligarh Lok Sabha seats.
This time Modi has no emotive message to take to the stump. Muscular nationalism doesn't work against the backdrop of China's successive inroads into Indian territory. Rising prices is a sore point that cuts across class and caste barriers; unprecedented levels of unemployment has the youth in a ferment. This has reduced the BJP campaign to a laundry list of recycled grievances and thinly veiled communal appeals, neither of which are working as well as they have in the past, argues Prem Panicker.
Sources said Paswan's party may contest on five of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.
'There might be some internal tussles that can be expected between any two persons in any party.' 'But I do not see any tussle which might weaken the possibility of dictatorship.'
Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Trinamool Congress competed with each other in trying to raise the issue more vociferously
