New Delhi, Oct 17 (PTI) Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) vice president and former MLA Jai Kishan Monday condemned BJP functionary Santosh Ranjan Rai's "demeaning" remarks against Congress leader Udit Raj.

In a statement, Kishan said it was highly "deplorable and objectionable" that a BJP functionary has described Raj in a disparaging manner.

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"Such remarks only reemphasise the BJP's prevalent attitude of treating Dalits as outcasts of the society," Kishan said in the statement.

Udit Raj was a BJP MP in Lok Sabha from Northwest Delhi parliamentary constituency between 2014 and 2019. He joined the Congress after being denied the ticket by the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

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Kishan said the Dalit community strongly condemns BJP functionary Santosh Ranjan Rai's tweet against Udit Raj.

"It was a highly demeaning remark, and an insult to the Dalit community as a whole. Dalit organisations and the Congress will make it a country-wide issue. The BJP functionary's tweet reflected the lowly mindset of the BJP, which has been adopting the divide and rule policy to ruin the country," the statement quoted Kishan as saying.

"The bigotry of the BJP was driving the country to devastation, and under the BJP rule, the lives of Dalits have become unsafe, as Dalit girls and women suffer sexual harassment and assaults regularly with those in power keeping a blind eye," Kishan alleged in the statement.

Kishan said that Udit Raj had been questioning and agitating against the Central government's policy of "ending reservation for Dalits".

Earlier, the Congress had on Thursday hit out at the BJP over what it said were "casteist" and "racist" comments.

The All India Confederation of SC/ST organisation has also filed a complaint at the North Avenue police station against Santosh Ranjan Rai, a former national vice president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), for allegedly using the "casteist" and "racist" comments.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)