'Ram Nath Kovind came to me with bio data, asked me to put in a word': Udit Raj stokes controversy, calls President 'deaf-and-dumb' leader

Dalit leader Udit Raj, who recently quit the Bharatiya Janata Party to join the Congress, has stoked a fresh controversy by making a derogatory speech about Ram Nath Kovind, insinuating that the President of India is a ‘deaf-and-dumb’ Dalit leader.

Times Now  tweeted an excerpt of Raj’s presser, held on Tuesday, where he can be heard narrating a so-called anecdote about President Kovind. “Ram Nath Kovind came to my house on 20 May 2014 with his biodata and he wanted me to put in a word for him within the party so that he can get some post. I also made a few efforts and he was made a governor. Eventually, he became the president. If a Dalit in BJP behaves like a deaf and dumb he can get any position of power. First, they made a national secretary, then they made a president. If I were also deaf and dumb, they might have even made me the prime minister, if it was the need if the hour,” Raj said.

Raj had switched over to the Congress last week after being denied a ticket from North West Delhi. He had earlier too accused the saffron party of nominating Ram Nath Kovind for the President’s post because he “kept quiet” over Dalit issues.

“They (the BJP) had not even considered Kovind good enough for giving him a ticket when he wanted it. So, do you see the benefit of staying quiet, (one is made) president. If I would have stayed quiet, they could have made me the prime minister in future,” he had said .

“The BJP uses internal survey to choose its candidates and even though I was deemed most popular, I was refused a ticket because I had supported Dalits in their recent protests,” Raj had said.

Raj claimed that the BJP did not give him a ticket as he had spoken out in support of the Dalits who were protesting in 2018 against the alleged dilution of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

“My mistake was that when the Act was changed, I was not deaf and dumb in the BJP,” he said.

The miffed MP said though the BJP wanted Dalit votes, it did not want Dalit leaders. “If at all they want a Dalit leader, he should be silent,” Raj said.

Raj said he was ‘hurt’ by the fact that the BJP did not inform him of their decision earlier, leaving him hopeful of a ticket till the last moment. He had gone public with his outrage and tweeted that he will “bid goodbye”.

The former BJP MP had often held views contrary to the party’s stand, especially during the Sabarimala issue and ‘Bharat Bandh’ called by Dalit organisations in 2018.

With inputs from PTI