New Delhi, Oct 15 Four Dalit outfits on Thursday accused the Congress of “political opportunism and selective social justice” over its intervention in the Ankita Bhandari murder case, questioning whether social justice is a consistent principle for the party or a political instrument wielded for partisan interests.
In separate open letters addressed to the Congress leadership, the SAIL SC & ST Employees Federation, NBCC SC/ST Employees Welfare Association, Dr B R Ambedkar Volleyball Club, and SC Hakkula Porata Sangam said constitutional values must never become tools of political convenience.
“The Congress party’s intervention in the Ankita Bhandari case raises serious questions about its commitment to constitutional morality and the consistency of its politics.
“The participation of senior Congress leaders in the India Gate protest has brought the issue into the national political arena. Yet, the larger question remains: Is social justice a consistent principle for Congress, or a political instrument invoked when it serves partisan interests?” the organisations said in the letters.
The remarks came against the backdrop of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi meeting Bhandari’s parents at India Gate on Wednesday for justice for their daughter.
Bhandari, who was an employee at a resort in Uttarakhand, was murdered in September 2022.
BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam, who has now been appointed Sikkim governor, is besieged with the allegation that he was the “VIP” who sought favours from Bhandari, a receptionist at Vantara Resorts, before she was killed.
Bhandari’s parents have demanded that his governorship be put on hold until the ongoing CBI probe into their daughter’s murder case is complete.
Gautam belongs to the Jatav community, a Scheduled Caste (SC).
The organisations said their objection is not to democratic protest, public scrutiny or institutional accountability, but to the selective invocation of principles that must be applied universally.
“A party that routinely lectures the nation on constitutional morality must demonstrate consistency in its own political conduct,” the letters said. They called upon the Congress leadership to reflect on the perception that its commitment to social justice “becomes most visible when a controversy offers an opportunity to challenge its political opponents.”
The organisations, which issued separate letters carrying the same content, said generations of Ambedkarite movements have struggled for equality before the law, institutional accountability and the substantive realisation of social justice.
“Dr B R Ambedkar’s legacy demands more than rhetorical references to the Constitution. It demands intellectual honesty, principled conduct and equal standards of accountability,” the letters said.
“Social justice cannot be selective. Constitutional morality cannot be convenient. And Babasaheb Ambedkar’s legacy cannot be reduced to a partisan instrument,” the organisations said.
India deserves politics guided by consistent principles, institutional responsibility and a genuine commitment to equality, rather than selective outrage dictated by political expediency, they added.
Among the signatories were Manoj Kumar (general secretary) and S K Soni (president) of the NBCC SC/ST Employees Welfare Association; A Kanthi Kiran, president of the Dr B R Ambedkar Volleyball Club; and Maredu Mohan, founder president of the SC Hakkula Porata Sangam.
(PTI News)
