Narendra Modi asks BJP MPs to spend two nights in Dalit villages during BR Ambedkar's birthday

Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to be on a mission to change how the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is perceived by Dalits. After asking party workers to focus on building a casteism and communalism-free new India during his address at the 38th Foundation Day meeting in Mumbai, the prime minister urged MPs to spend time with Dalits in their constituencies. [caption id=“attachment_4353523” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PTI[/caption] Modi told party MPs to spend at least “two nights in Dalit-dominated villages and ‘restore’ the faith of the community in BJP” while addressing them during a parliamentary meeting held on Friday, The Indian Express reported. The Budget Session of the Parliament ended on Friday. Quoting a BJP MP who attended the meeting, the report said that Modi has asked BJP MPs to “spend two nights in villages" between 14 April (the birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar) and 5 May and celebrate Ambedkar’s birthday in a “big way”. “He told them to pick at least one village with over 50 percent population of SCs”. The prime minister reportedly pointed out to the party MPs that there are “more than 20,000 such villages in the country”. But spending time with Dalits is not the only thing the government has planned to woo Dalits in the country. In fact, on 13 April, a day before Ambedkar’s birthday, Modi will be dedicating 26, Alipur Road, the house where Ambedkar died and which is being turned into a memorial, to the nation. Modi’s message has come four days after Dalit groups led a nationwide strike over the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, thus highlighting the increasing unrest within the community. The BJP has been at the receiving end of Dalit ire for its alleged failure to file a review petition against a Supreme Court order, which hardened the rule leading to the immediate arrest of people accused of committing an atrocity against a Dalit. The Budget Session of the Parliament was a complete washout with Opposition parties disrupting the proceedings of both Houses over the issue. Modi and several other BJP leaders, however, have always insisted that no other party has respected Ambedkar as much as BJP did . In the past, Modi has compared Ambedkar to Martin Luther King Jr . “There is a misgiving about us. But the truth is we in the BJP always had the utmost respect for Ambedkar,” he had said. However, its recent efforts to unite BJP and Ambedkar have met with severe criticism, the latest of them being the Uttar Pradesh government notification adding BR Ambedkar's father's name Ramji to all official mentions was being seen as an effort to usurp the Dalit icon as a Hindu icon. With inputs from agencies