The Congress party tried to dwarf the stature of Dr B.R. Ambedkar by playing down the significance of November 26, the Constitution Day, BJP's national general secretary C.T. Ravi said in Bengaluru on Tuesday. He also alleged that the Congress had awarded Padma Bhushan to Narayan Sadoba Kajrolkar, who defeated Dr Ambedkar in the first Parliamentary elections.
Ravi, who was addressing a meeting of the national and state-level SC Morcha members, said, "Dr Ambedkar deserved to get the first Bharat Ratna award. But the Congress did not do justice in his case."
The BJP leader said the Narendra Modi government had declared the five places connected to Ambedkar as "Panchadham" (pilgrimage centres). "The Modi government developed Babasaheb's birthplace Mahua in Madhya Pradesh. His London home was purchased and converted into a memorial. His Delhi residence on Alipur Road where he drafted the Constitution is now a memorial. Nagpur, his Karmabhoomi and Mumbai, where his last rites were held, have been immortalised. The BJP has tried to give justice to all the leaders wronged by the Congress—be it Netaji, Sardar Patel or Dr Ambedkar," he said.
Asserting that the Modi government believed in equality for all, Ravi said for the BJP dalits were not vote banks but stakeholders in the country's development and administration. Congress leaders like Siddaramaiah are anti-dalit as they do not respect that community in politics, he alleged.
"Modi's initiatives like Jan Dhan Yojna, Ayushman Bharat, Startup India and Mudra are aligned with Dr Ambedkar's idea of empowering the poor. The BJP believes in enhancing an individual's capacity to help him emerge as a leader. Political power should not be hereditary but should be shared equally among people. Unfortunately, the Congress has propagated dynastic politics in the country since Independence," said Ravi.
State SC Morcha president Chalavadi Narayanaswamy also accused the Congress of "misleading" the dalits.
"Congress which treated dalits as vote banks and bonded labourers tried to project the BJP as anti-dalit, anti-Constitutional and anti-Ambedkar. But today, the educated dalit youth have realised the folly and the community is now in favour of the BJP," said Narayanswamy.
