The government of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has scrapped a public holiday in Uttar Pradesh marking the death anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar, revered as the architect of the Indian Constitution and among the foremost dalit leaders, that falls on December 6.
Since coming to power in May this year, one of the most publicised moves of the Yogi Adityanath government has been to scrap several of Uttar Pradesh's myriad public holidays (there were 42 at the beginning of the year).
Since it assumed office in May, the BJP government cancelled more than 12 such holidays related to anniversaries and festivals. Adityanath said schools would be encouraged to hold special events to remember the personalities whose anniversaries were being celebrated.
While Adityanath claimed that the measures were aimed at increasing the duration of the academic year, the move will have political overtones as many public holidays were declared by the opposition Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party as they alternatively formed governments in the state in the past 15 years.
The chances of Ambedkar's death anniversary being a a public holiday has oscillated with the priorities of the dispensation in power in Lucknow. The Samajwadi Party government of Akhilesh Yadav had scrapped the holiday when it came to power in 2012 after it was initially declared by the previous BSP. Yadav again declared the anniversary as a public holiday in 2015.
