Lucknow, May 5 (TOI): More than a month after she criticised her own party claiming reservation benefits for SCs/STs were under threat, BJP’s Dalit MP from Bahraich, Savitri Bai Phule, on Friday said that party leaders were “insulting” Dalits by going to their homes, dining with them and then sharing photos on social media.

“The leaders are getting their meals prepared by people from upper caste. They eat in new plates and drink mineral water. What are they trying to prove? These leaders should eat the food prepared and served by Dalits in their plates,” Phule told TOI.

Phule asked how many BJP leaders invited Dalits to their homes and dined with them. “Unke (Dalits) saath khana kha kar kya ehsaan kar rahe hain? Nahin. Daliton ko insaan abhi bhi nahi samajhte hain ye log (Are they doing any favour to Dalits by dining with them? No. They still don’t treat Dalits as humans),” she said. “Social emancipation will come only when Dalits are provided education and jobs. Not by dining with them, taking a photograph and posting it on social media,” she said.

The MP’s criticism comes at a time when BJP is in an overdrive to woo Dalits and other backward castes while gearing up to take on a joint opposition in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The MP’s attack comes days after Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Suresh Rana found himself in the midst of a controversy by eating food ordered from outside at a Dalit family’s home in Aligarh.

Another BJP MLA, Rajendra Pratap Singh, claimed that Dalits felt liberated when BJP leaders went to their homes and dined with them. CM Yogi Adityanath had also held night chaupals in two Dalit villages.