Chasing Dalit votes in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh and countering senior Samajwadi Party (SP) Minister Azam Khan’s contentious remarks linking B.R. Ambedkar to land grab, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday projected itself as the real “well-wisher” of Dalits by advertising all the supportive decisions it had taken and memorials it had built to honour of Babasaheb over the years.
Hits out at Rahul The BJP said its decisions had made Babasaheb immortal, while leaders of other parties, like Rahul Gandhi and Mayawati, did little more than present themselves as “messiahs” of Dalits.
BJP chief Amit Shah hailed his party and its governments in the States and the Centre over the years for honouring Babasaheb while Mulayam Singh tormented Dalits and the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) chief exploited her community.
The BJP President also attacked the Congress party, raking up past incidents of tension between Ambedkar and the grand old party.
The BJP chief made these comments while addressing the party’s Manavta Sadbhavana Samaroh (event for goodwill in humanity) at the sprawling Kanshiram smriti upvan (memorial garden) here.
Intentional target Looking to tear into the State’s vote share — an impressive 21 per cent — the BJP organised the public meeting to especially target Mr. Khan for his comments on Ambedkar.
However, interestingly, Mr. Shah did not refer to the SP leader even once or rake up his comments. Instead, he chose to flaunt the BJP’s efforts to honour Ambedkar.
Mr. Shah tried to project the Narendra Modi government as pro-Dalit, and even listed seven memorials the party had built in honour of the Dalit icon. Referring to various memorials built by the BJP governments over the years, including the ones in Mhow, London, Vadodara, Mumbai and Nagpur, Mr. Shah said his party had done the most for honouring Babahaseb, even taking him to global scene.
What have you done, he asked the SP, BSP and Congress. In an attack on the Congress, Mr. Shah sought to remind Rahul Gandhi that Jawaharlal Nehru had obstructed Babasaheb from entering Parliament, but in contrast, it was the Atal Bihari government that introduced Ambedkar’s frame into Parliament house and even awarded him with the Bharat Ratna.
Ms. Mayawati shot back at the BJP and described the party's pro-Dalit stance as “hollow” and “wrong,” and termed Mr. Shah’s rally of Dalits a “flop show.” She said the BJP’S motive behind staging such programmes was “elections” and “political greed” and it had little to do with truly honouring Ambedkar. The BJP easily forget the "casteist atrocity and inhuman incidents" against Dalits under its rule, she said.
Before making any claim for the good of Dalits, the BJP should mull over the Rohit Vemula and Una incidents, and produce satisfactory answers, she said, asking why Dalits were yet to get justice in the two incidents. “Dalits and Muslims want action on the ground against culprits [of atrocities against them] and not mere verbal sympathy,” the former UP chief minister said.
She also hit back at Mr. Shah for claiming that she had remained silent over the alleged insult of Ambedkar by Mr. Khan. Ms. Mayawati pointed out she had raised the issue on a public forum in her Saharanpur rally last Sunday and demanded a public apology from the SP leader. Observers argue Mr. Khan’s comments against Ambedkar could be a ploy to confuse the prospective Dalit-Muslim combine building in favour of the BSP, as the SP feels it is losing grip over the minority community, which forces a sizeable 19 percent of the electorate.
