Presidential Election 2017: Meira Kumar is Congress' scapegoat, says Dalit leader Ramdas Athawale

Vadodara: Union minister and RPI leader Ramdas Athawale on Friday alleged that Congress has made Meira Kumar a “scapegoat” by fielding her as the opposition’s candidate for the presidential election. Athawale, speaking to reporters after inaugurating a school and holding meetings with district officials over issues of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, said when Congress was in power it didn’t give her suitable post, and “now when the defeat of the opposition candidate is certain, they have fielded Meira Kumar as a scapegoat.” [caption id=“attachment_3762753” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Meira Kumar. PTI[/caption] “This clearly shows that Congress has no commitment to get elected leaders from marginalised sections to high offices, and decided to field her only as a token exercise,” said Athawale, a prominent Dalit leader from Maharashtra. NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind’s victory in the election was a foregone conclusion, he said. The Union Minister of State for Social Justice also welcomed the prime minister Narendra Modi’s stern message on Thursday that killing in the name of cow-protection will not be tolerated. As to coming Assembly elections in Gujarat, Athawale said he would meet BJP president Amit Shah regarding possible tie-up between BJP and RPI. On reservations, he said he favoured lifting of the 50 percent ceiling. A twenty-five percent quota should be provided to poor sections of upper caste communities such as Gujjars, Patels, Marathas, Jats, etc and the Constitution should be amended for this, he said.