New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Jitin Prasada on Thursday said his "Brahman Chetna Parishad" is a non-political movement and seeks to highlight the concerns about the atrocities on the community.
In an interview with senior journalist Amit Agnihotri, Prasada spoke about the Congress' brahmin outreach, and what he hopes to achieve from the initiative.
Q - What is the response to your effort to mobilize the Brahmin community which had moved away from the Congress in Uttar Pradesh?
We are getting a good response. It is a non-partisan initiative under the banner of the Brahmin Chetna Parishad, formed a few years ago. I had then started meeting the community members and had covered around 20 districts till the lockdown happened. There have been concerns over spate of crimes against the community members and there is an impression that there is a bias against the community. I am not saying it is state-sponsored but many victims of such crimes are brahmins. This is proved by the crime records. For instance, a girl of Navodaya Vidyalaya was abused and killed in Mainpuri in western UP. The District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police were transferred but no action was taken. I visited the family and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also wrote a letter to the Chief Minister. Then in Basti in eastern UP, a boy Kabir Tewari was killed. His family is still languishing. There are many such instances in Jhansi, Itawa and Sultanpur.
Q - So what do you hope to achieve through this initiative?
My aim is to unite the community and give them a platform. Of late, I have been doing online interactions and have conducted 30 district-level Samvad. The remaining districts would be covered over the next month. The community was feeling orphaned. So I am trying to assure them that somebody will listen to them in Lucknow or Delhi. Today the community is being painted as full of criminals, which is not true. Besides, nothing can sustain on the ground for two months without any public support.
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Q - Though you described the move as non-partisan, it is natural for people to smell the political motive behind it. Your comments!
See, I am not aiming to be projected as a brahmin leader in UP. However, it is correct that any move by a politician is seen as having a political motive. This is non-political and is not for votes. Therefore, we are doing it under the banner of Brahmin Chetna Parishad. The programme does not focus on taking away anybody's rights but we are fighting for the rights of the community. There is just symbolic representation of the community in the state government and in the bureaucracy.
Q - The Congress unsuccessfully tried to woo the 10 per cent Brahmin community in 2017 by projecting former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit as the chief minister candidate. Will the party project a CM candidate for the 2022 polls?
Projecting a CM candidate is a strategic decision and will be taken by the party leadership as an when it feels. We projected Sheila ji in 2017 but her candidature got pulled back as we later had an alliance with the Samajwadi Party, which did not go through fully.
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Q - That brings us to the other traditional Congress voters like the Dalits and Muslims who too moved away from the party in UP. Any plans to woo them back?
See, we are focusing on bringing focus back on real issues like law and order, infrastructure, jobs which are affecting the lives of people and influence all communities.
Q - The Congress-SP alliance for 2017 UP assembly polls was a disaster. Will you join hands with the SP or the Rashtriya Lok Dal in 2022?
We will have no alliance. We will go alone. The preparations have begun. We are gearing up. Complete overhaul of the organisation has happened and we are single handedly taking on the government. Congress is the most visible opposition today.
Q - What would be the Congress' response if the BJP tries to play up the Ram Temple issue before the next assembly polls?
Well, our leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has given an extensive statement on the party's position on that issue and that is the party line. We welcome it (the temple).
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