New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS): With an eye on next year's crucial assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, BJP national president J.P. Nadda on Sunday gave tips to the Dalit leaders who had gathered in Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on how to win votes.

Referring to various schemes run by the Modi government -- Jan Dhan Yojna, Antyodaya, toilets, housing, education, Ujjwala, Ayushman Bharat, campaign to connect villages with electricity, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Samman Yojana, Mudra loan etc -- Nadda claimed that for the first time in the country the government is following the right path shown by Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Nadda said that the work that the Modi government has done for the Dalit members of the society in the last 7 years, the previous governments could not do even in 70 years.

In view of the number of Dalit voters in Uttar Pradesh, while virtually launching the two-day meeting of the BJP Scheduled Caste Front's national executive convened in Prime Minister Modi's parliamentary constituency Varanasi, the BJP President claimed that the Modi government has taken the steps in the interest of Dalits which no previous government had ever taken. He asked the workers to take the facts along with the data directly to the Dalit voters.

Accusing the opposition parties of using Dalits only as a vote bank, Nadda said that the Congress has always insulted Babasaheb and the BJP has only respect for him.

After OBC voters, the number of Dalit voters is very high in Uttar Pradesh. Out of 403 seats in the UP Legislative Assembly, 84 seats are reserved for the SC category. The population of Dalit voters in the state is about 21 per cent and out of this, more than half are Jatavs -- about 54 per cent. In 42 districts of the state, the population of Dalit voters is more than 21 per cent. The history of the last three assembly elections shows that the political party which got more seats out of the reserved seats, was because of the Dalit votes.

The BJP wants to win the hearts of the Dalits of the state once again by holding a meeting of the National Executive of the SC Morcha in Varanasi. In the two-day meeting, the BJP will plan a strategy on how the Dalits of Uttar Pradesh should be told about the work of the government and how they have benefited from the various schemes. Dalits will be informed about not only the schemes of the government but it will also expose other opposition parties including the BSP and the SP over their hollow promises. In the meeting, Dalit workers will be given the responsibility to go to the Dalit voters and tell them that their honour and interest is safe with the BJP.