BJP tries to woo dalits

In order to expand its base among dalits, the Bharatiya Janata Party will launch its 'Mhow Declaration' during its Schedule Caste Cell's two-day national convention starting Friday.

The declaration, to be launched from Mhow, the birthplace of Dr B R Ambedkar, will be in reply to the Congress' 21-point dalit agenda, known as the 'Bhopal Declaration', the cell's national vice-president and convenor of the convention, Prakash Sonkar, said in Indore on Thursday.

Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani and BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu will inaugurate the convention, while party general secretary Rajnath Singh will address the concluding session, he said.

Sonkar said the declaration 'will identify the lacuna in the policies for dalits and steps to be taken for their welfare'.

"It would be different from the Congress' dalit agenda in many respects as it will be based on the experiences of the BJP's SC leaders spread across the country, who will be attending the convention," he said.

Criticising the Congress' agenda, he said, "It was drafted by senior bureaucrats in air-conditioned rooms and is far from the ground realities of the dalits in the country."

The BJP leaders will take out a rally from the Nehru Stadium in Indore to Mhow on Friday under the leadership of BJP state president Kailash Joshi and the party's election campaign in-charge Uma Bharti, Sonkar said.