New Delhi: The BJP took potshots at Congress on Thursday during the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti. Accusing the latter of doing politics in the name of Dr. B R Ambedkar, the ruling party claimed that Babasaheb was not even provided state honours after he passed away, adding that no pictures of him were ever hung in the Parliament during Congress rule. BJP further said that the posthumous Bharat Ratna to Ambedkar was provided when BJP came to power.
"No Congress government considered him worthy of the Bharat Ratna award. When Baba Saheb passed away, the then Congress government at the Centre had not given any instructions for his last rites to be conducted with state honors," Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Dr. Virendra Kumar, said. BJP national general secretary Dushyant Gautam, meanwhile, alleged that the false claims were being propagated by the Opposition that the Centre wanted to end reservation policies.
"Our government is running many schemes for the Dalits, which have not been implemented before. A large number of our public representatives, including the President of India, come from this section of the society. There are several schemes such as Atal Pension Yojana, Jan Dhan Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana have been set up keeping in mind Dalits," Gautam pointed out.
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Kumar drew a parallel between Ambedkar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying ideals for both are upholding the rights of all citizens. "Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar had composed the constitution, he wrote the constitution considering the whole country as one. Today we see our Prime Minister assimilating him," he said.
Pointing towards the Left and Congress, Kumar said none of the two sides believed in the representation of those belonging to lower strata of society. "It took years for the Leftists to provide space to a Dalit member in their Politburo. Similarly, other opposition parties including Congress are also not giving representation to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as much as the Bharatiya Janata Party," he said.
The Congress, meanwhile, hit back saying that all things that the Centre does are against Ambedkar's ideals. Congress spokesperson displayed statistics, saying more than 50,000 incidents of anti-Dalit atrocities were reported in 2022, as opposed to 33,000 in 2011. Veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge pointed out that far fewer bills were sent to the parliamentary committee for discussion, which was a blot on the parliamentary democracy Ambedkar worked hard for.
"Bills sent to parliamentary committees for discussion during UPA - 71% Modi I - 27% Modi II - 10%. The declining numbers are alarming! On the 131st birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar, his vision & lifelong dream of parliamentary democracy looks to be in shambles under the Modi govt," said Kharge on Twitter.
