Rahul Gandhi stresses for Dalit empowerment

New Delhi: Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, while speaking at the ' National Dialogue on Social Disparity ' organised by the National Commission for Women Scheduled Castes at the Constitution Club in New Delhi on Tuesday emphasized that there is a need to encourage the weaker sections and Dalits. He asserted that there was a need to lift the weaker sections of the people from the grass root up the hierarchy. "I want Dalits to once again feel that they are the backbone of Congress Party," said Rahul Gandhi.

The Congress President said further "We need to provide weaker sections and Dalits with better educational opportunities and there is also a need to change the education system". Rahul Gandhi said he had been able to make the assessment after visiting the states in the country and witnessing the elections during the last eight to nine years he has been in the politics of the country.

"When we have the elections for the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha, how many people take decisions? How many people decide as to who will contest the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls, who will become the Prime Minister? " asked Rahul Gandhi and also pointed out that only 500 people take a final call on who would be the candidates for the polls and who would be the person leading the country.
In the Congress Party, Rahul Gandhi said, around a hundred people were involved in taking a final call on the selection of candidates to contest the elections and around 70 to 80 people were involved in taking a final decision in the BJP. In the Samajwadi Party, the decision was taken by three persons, and the BJD two people. In the BSP, the privilege of taking the decision was that of only one person. In the ultimate analysis, only 500 people took the decision.

"I want to tell you that till the time these 500 people continue to take decisions about the country's politics, the voices of the Dalits will not reach the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha," he added. Rahul Gandhi further recalled that it was his father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who helped spread telecommunications across the country by installing a PCO in every village. "Earlier, only the MPs and MLAs had the right to communications. And that is exactly what is happening in the country's political system at present," said the Congress Vice President.