Congress gave Dalits their rightful place: Digvijay Singh

Digvijay Singh today described Congress as the party which gave Dalits their rightful place in society by granting them a role in the making of the Constitution and installing them in high positions and accused the ruling BSP in Uttar Pradesh of doing nothing for them.

"Congress always gave the right place to dalits. From giving them a role in Constitution making to installing a member of the community as the Speaker of the present Lok Sabha, the party always gave value to dalits unlike BSP," Singh said addressing a Dalit conference here.

Accusing the Mayawati government of doing nothing for Dalits, he said funds meant for their welfare had been diverted to projects which had nothing to do with them.

Replying to a query, the Congress general secretary drew a line between Yoga guru Ramdev and Gandhian Anna Hazare, both of whom are engaged in anti-corruption campaigns.

"While Ramdev is a thug, Hazare is a social worker and that is why the government acted on his demands," Singh, who is the AICC in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, said.

On the notice served to Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal by the Income Tax department, Singh said it had been issued to the former bureaucrat in 2005 itself and charged him with not only flouting goverment service rules but also being involved in politics and collecting "crores" through his NGO.