Yogi Adityanath gives soaps to Dalits: Congress demands case against UP chief minister, demands him to apologise

New Delhi: Accusing Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his government of practising untouchability, the Congress demanded that he tender an apology to Dalits and a case be registered against him for insulting them.

Referring to reports that authorities distributed soap and shampoo to Musahar Dalit families and asked them “clean themselves” before attending a public meeting of the chief minister, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi, “The incident has depicted the true face of the BJP and the RSS, particularly the chief minister.”

He said Adityanath appeared not to be a ‘yogi’ (renouncer), but a ‘bhogi’ (materialistic). “The true face, thought process, thinking, actions have reflected in the way the soaps were distributed and callous officials said that they must smell good before the chief minister. A low level of untouchability was directly practised,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_3491799” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath. PTI[/caption] Strongly condemning the incident, the Congress leader said it was unfortunate that he who was supposed to be the guardian of democracy had displayed this mindset and his army of officials had implemented this mindset. According to media reports, a day before Adityanath’s visit to Mainpur Deenapatti village in Kushinagar district on Thursday, Musahar Dalit families received two soaps and a sachet of shampoo, and instructions to “clean themselves” before attending the public meeting. “They (BJP leaders) have insulted the entire community of that village but more importantly they have insulted the concept of dalits in this country,” he said. The Congress spokesperson also asked which part of the Constitution was the chief minister upholding by reflecting such a mindset. “The chief minister must immediately apologise to this community. Appropriate cases must be registered under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against him and his official army, which has practised this brazen and shocking form of untouchability,” said Singhvi.