BJP signals its Dalit outreach by making Thawarchand Gehlot Leader of Rajya Sabha

The BJP has, for the first time, appointed a Dalit as Leader of Rajya Sabha. Thawarchand Gehlot will replace senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley.

Social Justice Minister Thawarchand Gehlot has approved the scrapping of the NCSC-appointed panel | File Photo: Praveen Jain | The Print

New Delhi: In a first, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made a Dalit the Leader of the Rajya Sabha with the appointment of union cabinet minister Thawarchand Gehlot.

In the previous Narendra Modi government, this position was occupied by senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley, who is suffering from health issues and decided to not be in the cabinet this time.

Gehlot, the social justice and empowerment minister, is a seasoned parliamentarian and had served as a cabinet minister in the previous Modi government too. He has earlier served both in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

The BJP reconstituted its Parliamentary Party Executive Committee Wednesday on the directions of the PM. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was appointed the Deputy Leader of the Lok Sabha and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal the Deputy Leader of Rajya Sabha.

“This is a historical decision taken by the party. It is for the first time that a Dalit has been made the leader of the Upper House by the BJP. This is just a small example to show what the party believes as far as social equality is concerned and to give due representation to the Dalit community in the party as well as in the government,” said a senior BJP leader.

Eye on Dalits

According to a BJP source, the party is trying to capture the Dalit votebank after getting huge support from the community in Uttar Pradesh, where it won 62 of the 80 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.

“There were a number of protests by the Dalit community in the past and the opposition tried to create an atmosphere of unrest and animosity as far as the BJP is concerned. But through our schemes and outreach programmes, we reached out to the community and an example of this could be seen in the victory we achieved in Uttar Pradesh,” said another BJP leader.

“This will be further consolidated through such decisions by the party where Dalits are given due representation in the party and the government,” added the leader.