The Congress on Friday slammed the elevation of N Ramchander Rao, who was among the accused in the 2016 Rohith Vemula suicide case, as the president of the BJP's Telangana unit chief, and said the party has once again proved that whoever goes against Dalits and Adivasis will be rewarded by it.

The opposition party demanded that the BJP rethink such appointments and also unconditionally apologise to the country.

Telangana Police had last year filed a closure report in the case before a local court and given a clean chit to the accused, including Rao.

Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu said Vemula's suicide at the University of Hyderabad had shook the country and made it reflect on what is happening under the BJP rule.

"He was a PhD scholar and was an active member of the Ambedkar Students' Association. For the discrimination he was facing, he, along with a few friends, thought they'd bring the issues to the attention of the university for the cause of self-respect and social justice for Dalits," he said at a press conference.

"When he (Vemula) was fighting for these causes, the student wing leader of the BJP, Susheel Kumar, filed a false case and brought a lot of pressure on the university authorities to book and rusticate the boys and shame them, and finally this led to the death of Rohith," Mallu said.

Then, BJP MLC Ramchander Rao came along with his "goons, did a dharna, met the vice chancellor, and forced the authorities to take action against the ASA students, filing a false case too", and this pressure ultimately led Rohith to take his life, he claimed.

"By appointing Ramchander Rao as the president of the party for the Telangana unit, the BJP has proved once again that whoever goes against the Dalits and Adivasis will be rewarded by the BJP," Mallu said.

Meanwhile, Susheel Kumar, who was an ABVP leader, has been appointed as an assistant professor at the University of Delhi, he pointed out.

"What has been alarming is that the BJP is not just going against the Constitution; they are giving calls to change it," he said.

"My appeal to all people is to think deeply about what's happening in this country. The basic duty of the government should be to protect the lives, dignity and self-respect of every citizen of the nation," Mallu said.

The BJP must rethink these appointments and also unconditionally apologise to the country, he said.

"Also, they must give hope to the underprivileged and marginalised people that they can live freely in this country," the deputy chief minister said.

Rao, an ABVP veteran and senior advocate, last Saturday took over as the new president of the BJP in Telangana, succeeding G Kishan Reddy.

AICC SC Department chief Rajendra Pal Gautam said the BJP government has always stood with the accused, rewarding them instead of punishing them.

"Instead of punishing Bandaru Dattatreya, he was made the Governor of Haryana. M Sushil Kumar was appointed assistant professor at Delhi University, and Ramchander Rao, who played a significant role in Rohith Vemula's murder, has been made the BJP's Telangana chief," Gautam said.

"The BJP does not believe in social justice. This is why children in different parts of the country are being harassed to such an extent that they are driven to commit suicide," he said.

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