Former BJP MLA from Karnataka Goolihatti Shekar has made a serious allegation of caste discrimination against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Nagpur.
Goolihatti, a two-time MLA from Hosadurg (general category constituency) in Chitradurga district, served as a minister in the Yediyurappa government in 2008. He won the 2018 assembly polls on a BJP ticket, but contested (and lost) as an independent in the 2023 assembly polls after the BJP denied him the ticket.
On Tuesday, Goolihatti alleged that he had been barred entry into a museum at RSS headquarters in Nagpur owing to his caste.
In an audio recording purportedly sent to BJP national secretary (organisation) B.L. Santosh by Goolihatti, the former legislator is heard narrating his “ordeal” at Nagpur.
“I had been to RSS office in Nagpur before the Karnataka elections were declared, along with one Vaidya and Manju. I was both happy and proud as I take pride in Hindutva and despite being an SC (Dalit), I am a devout Hindu who believes in god. But I was greatly pained when I was denied entry into the Hedgewar Museum as I am a Dalit. At the entrance, they were noting down the names of all the visitors. When I wrote my name, they asked me if I belonged to the reserved category. As I told them I was a Dalit, they told me I was not allowed inside. I agreed to stay outside while the other two who were with me —Mohan Vaidya, grandson of one of the RSS founders and Manju from Bengaluru, were allowed inside,” said Goolihatti in the recording.
Further, Goolihatti reminded Santhosh that BJP MP Narayanaswamy from Chitradurga was also a Dalit and wondered aloud if Narayanaswamy and former deputy chief minister Govind Karjol, also a Dalit, had been allowed inside the Hedgewar house in Nagpur.
This story was originally published in theweek.in. Read the full story here .