To woo the Dalit community ahead off the 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress has decided to organise ‘Dalit Swabhiman Diwas’ on Tuesday.

Desperately trying to find its lost political foothold in the state, the Congress had earlier organised conferences of various castes which could play important role in the state politics, like Nishad-Kevat-Mallah conference, Maurya-Shakya-Saini-Kushwaha conference and Pal-Gaderia-Dhangar conference.

Formerly with Congress, Jitin Prasada too had started a Brahmin Sabha to woo the community, alleging harassment by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party across the state before recently switching allegiance to the saffron outfit.

The Dalit cell of UP Congress will be celebrating 'Dalit Swabhiman Diwas' across the state on August 3 and will also take out a Dalit Swabhiman Yatra in all 75 districts of the state.

“After Independence in 1947, first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s cabinet had passed a resolution to make Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar the law minister on August 3 and the UP Dalit Congress will celebrate the day as Swabhiman Diwas,” said state chief of Dalit cell of UP Congress, Alok Prasad, in Lucknow on Monday.

“On this occasion, leaders, workers and supporters of Dalit Congress will take out Dalit Swabhiman Yatra in all 75 districts of the state and go to Dalit settlements and make them aware of how Congress was the first party to respect an honour Baba Saheb and ensure the rights to the Dalit community. We also plan to hold Dalit panchayat soon as well,” Prasad added.

Earlier this year, the Samajwadi Party had announced plans to organise a 'Dalit Diwali' on April 14 to mark the birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar and also announced the setting up a frontal organisation by the name ‘Baba Saheb Vahini’ after the Dalit icon.

Meanwhile, the ruling BJP also announced plans to celebrate Ambedkar Jayanti as Harmony Day. Dalit leader linked with the Ram temple movement, Kameshwar Chaupal, was appointed a member of Ram Mandir Nirman Trust in Ayodhya, ostensibly to woo the community.

Analysts said that Dalit voters would definitely play a crucial part in deciding the outcome of the 2022 assembly polls in UP and thus every party was attempting to reach out to them.

They also maintained that the Bahujan Samaj Party had lost some of its charm among the community, opening up opportunities for others to step in.