'Shoot me not Dalits': Is the Prime Minister so helpless?, asks Congress

Saddened by the attack on Dalits, PM Modi had made an emotional appeal, asking people to protect and respect those have for long been neglected by the society.

New Delhi: Attacking Narendra Modi over his comments on the attack on Dalits and cow vigilantism, the Congress said that the Prime Minister's helplessness has forced him to say that he should be shot instead of Dalits.

“Prime Minister has become helpless, he has become weak and in this helplessness has forced him to say that he should be shot and Dalit brothers be spared,” said Mallikarjuna Kharge, senior Congress leader said.

“The PM came into power in the name of the poor, but he is not able to protect them now,” he added.

Kharge demanded that PM Modi make a statement in the Parliament on the issue.

“Rather than giving a reply in the Parliament, he is making a statement outside the Parliament,” he said.

Accusing the ruling party of shying away from a discussion on the issue, Kharge said, “We had asked for a discussion on the issue under rule 193, but they did not answer.”

Yesterday, addressing party workers in Hyderabad, Modi had called for stopping the attacks on Dalits and the politics over it.

Making an emotional appeal, he asked people to protect and respect Dalits who have for long been neglected by the society.

"I would like to tell these people that if you have any problem, if you have attack, attack me. Stop attacking my Dalit brethren. If you have to shoot, shoot me, but not my Dalit brothers. This game should stop," he said.

The Prime Minister said if the country has to progress it cannot ignore key mantras of peace, unity and harmony.