Agencies / NEW DELHI
A BJP Dalit parliamentarian Savitri Bai Phule today resigned from the party hitting out at her leadership. “India’s money is being spent on construction of statues instead of being used for the development of the country,” she said.
The MP has been upset with her party for a while and is seen as a rebel. Savitri Bai Phule had earlier this year gone public against the BJP leadership while alleging discrimination of Dalits.
The BJP, she alleged, was trying to “create divisions” in the society. “I am a social worker. I work for Dalits. BJP is doing nothing for Dalit reservation,” Savitri Bai Phule, who represents Bahraich in parliament, said while announcing her decision.
On Tuesday, Ms Phule had said Lord Hanuman was “a Dalit and a slave of ‘manuwadi’ people”, jumping into a row over Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s remarks. “Lord Hanuman was a Dalit and a slave of ‘manuwadi’ people. He was a Dalit and a human. He did all for Lord Ram. Then why he was given a tail and his face was blackened? Why was he made a monkey?” Ms Phule said.
“When he did all for Lord Ram with devotion, he (Lord Hanuman) should have been made a human and not a ‘bandar’ (monkey). At that time also, he had to face humiliation due to being a Dalit. Why can’t we Dalits be considered humans,” she told a news agency.
The lawmaker from Uttar Pradesh had earlier this year gone public against her party leadership while alleging discrimination of Dalits. She was openly critical of the BJP’s ‘dinner-with-dalits’ outreach.
In May, she had stirred a controversy and rattled many in her party by calling Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah a “maha purush (great man)” who contributed to India’s freedom struggle.