Jyotiraditya Scindia sends legal notice to BJP’s MP chief over dalit row

New Delhi: Congress minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has sent a legal notice to BJP’s Madhya Pradesh chief Nand Kumar Singh Chouhan for portraying him as an “anti-dalit” leader.

A couple of lawmakers from Madhya Pradesh in Lok Sabha on Monday alleged that Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia reportedly got a local hospital  — which was inaugurated by a Dalit BJP MLA last week in his constituency —  “purified” by sprinkling Ganga water and re-inaugurated it.

Tikamgarh BJP MP Veerendra Kumar raised the issue during Zero Hour, alleging that after the local BJP MLA Gopilal Jatav, inaugurated the trauma centre of a local hospital in Ashok Nagar district which falls under Mr Scindia;s Guna Lok Sabha constituency on July 21, the MP got it reinaugurated on July 22 after getting Ganga water sprinkled there, to “purify” the area. This, Mr Kumar alleged, was done as it was inaugurated by a Dalit MLA.

BJP’s Dewas MP Manohar Utwal alleged that such incidents have happened in the past also in Ashok Nagar.

Mr Scindia took a strong exception to the move by Mr Chouhan to link him to this controversy and slapped a legal notice on the saffron leader, seeking a public apology from him.

A local Congress leader Amit Tanware, also Mr Scindia’s representative for the district, had given a call to sanctify the trauma centre with Ganga ‘jal’ (water) when it was dedicated to the public by local BJP MLA and dalit leader Gopilal Jatav on July 21, a day before Mr Scindia inaugurated the health facility.

The Congress expelled Mr Tanware from the party for six years in this connection. The state BJP chief sought a public apology from Mr Scindia for the anti-dalit remarks by the local Congress leader, alleging that the statement was made at his behest.