Congress props former aide to counter Dalit ki beti Mayawati

The Congress has found its Dalit mascot for Uttar Pradesh (UP) to contest Mayawati, in Panna Lal Punia, the party MP from Barabanki.

Punia, who has apparently been appointed chairman of the National Scheduled Castes Commission as part of this strategy, has started his job in the right earnest.

That the objective of his two-day Lucknow visit was “mission Mayawati” was evident from the very first words he uttered at a press meet here on Wednesday.

“The situation in UP is the worst as far as Dalit atrocities are concerned… even the rate of rise in crimes against the scheduled castes in the country is the highest in UP,” he said.

“These are not my statistics… these are the figures given by the state government to the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau),” he added.

Interestingly, Punia, a retired bureaucrat, was once known for his proximity with Mayawati. In fact, he was the Dalit icon’s eyes and ears during her first two tenures as chief minister. He was a co-accused in the Taj corridor scam along with Mayawati, but he later turned approver for CBI against his mentor.

Punia also took the Mayawati government to task on the Special Component Plan (SCP), a scheme designed for the uplift of the Dalits. “I have been receiving a string of complaints about the misutilisation and diversion of SCP funds… in at least two districts, SCP funds have been used to build hospitals,” he said.

He flayed the Mayawati government for its “poor” record in registration of FIRs in cases of Dalit atrocities. “I am holding a constitutional post… I am not dabbling in party politics, but this is the ground reality in UP,” he asserted.

Interestingly, on his first UP tour after taking over as SC commission chairman, Punia is being accompanied by Kamal Kishore “Commando”, the only other Dalit MP (besides Punia) that the Congress boasts of among its impressive band of 22 MPs from UP. Kamal Kishore’s presence is more than symbolic since he is an elected member of the powerful parliamentary committee on SC/ST welfare.

Punia was in an aggressive mood from the word go. “We are getting constant complaints that FIRs of Dalits are not registered (in UP)… there are also complaints about delays in investigation… clearly, the state government is insensitive to Dalits,” he said.

However, he was quick to point out that he had also taken up similar issues in Congress-ruled states. “I am only concerned about Dalits’ welfare…. I have raised the issue of diversion of Rs700 crores from SCP funds for the Commonwealth Games by the Delhi government…. I have also objected to utilisation of SCP funds for beautification in Andhra,” he explained.

Punia alleged the Mayawati government tried to thwart his visit and top officials had not provided him with required data on Dalits in UP despite reminders.

“The (UP) officials have been putting off a meeting on Dalits’ issues on flimsy grounds… now they have asked me to fix it after December 6 (Ayodhya demolition anniversary),” he said.