Prasada, Udit Raj in war of words over Ram temple trust

New Delhi, Feb 7 (SocialNews.XYZ) Two senior Congress leaders -- Jitin Prasada, who is also the party's working committee member, and Udit Raj, the party's SC/ST leader -- were on Friday locked in a war of words on twitter over the membership in the Ram temple trust announced by the Prime Minister in Parliament.

Raj, a prominent Dalit leader, said why only one person from Dalit community has been nominated in the trust. "The last census says the population of Dalits is thrice that of Brahmins, then why has the government left the Ram Mandir trust to Brahmins only?"

Udit Raj, a former civil servant, was inducted in the Congress on the eve of the general election last year. Before joining the Congress, he was a BJP MP from North-West Delhi.

Contradicting him on social media, Jitin Prasada sought to remind him that "whatever the subject, the Congress tradition is not to attack any caste or community".

"I believe that Congress policy is pro-Scheduled Caste with positive provisions and equal opportunity to all," tweeted Prasada, a former Union Minister.

Prasada, a Brahmin from a prominent family of Shahjahanpur in UP, is the son of late Congress leader Jitendra Prasada.

The government announced a 15-member temple trust on Wednesday with a provision that one person must belong to the Dalit community. Kameshwar Chaupal has been appointed the first Dalit member.

The issue of including Dalits and others has been raised by BJP's senior leaders Kalyan Singh and Uma Bharti.

Singh, a former Uttar Pradesh CM, while referring to Kameshwar Chaupal, a Scheduled Caste member from Patna in the trust, said on Friday: "Not just Dalits but backwards too should get representation in the Ram Mandir Trust as they too are staunch Ram Bhakt."

Source: IANS