NEW DELHI: The war over B R Ambedkar’s legacy is hotting up between the ruling BJP and the Congress, with Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday invoking the Dalit icon to say casteism was still prevalent in the country nearly seven decades on since Independence and the BJP saying the Congress was in power for most of the period.
The saffron party also objected to the Congress vice-president’s statement saying that no attempt should be made “to divide communities”. The BJP also hinted that the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities (Amendment) Bill would be taken up in Parliament’s upcoming Monsoon session.
The party fielded Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal, incharge of its Scheduled Castes cell, to counter the Congress scion, who visited Ambdekar’s birthplace in Madhya Pradesh.
“The hand Rahul was talking about had been rejected by the people of India. They have been ousted from power. The BJP now has representatives from all communities and it has the highest number of Dalits among its MPs,” Goyal said.
Goyal also referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “sabka saath, sabka vikas” moto of inclusive development.
The BJP’s Scheduled Caste Morcha president, Dushyant Gautam, said it was the BJP-NDA Government that was trying to restore places related to Ambedkar-- his Samadhi in Mumbai, his residence in Alipur in Delhi and birthplace in Mhow.
“Rahul should have explained why Bharat Ratna wasn’t given to Ambedkar [by a Congress Government], and why his picture wasn’t allowed to put up inside Parliament,” Gautam said.
“He is doing drama. They went to talk about Ambedkar’s ideology, but it’s all lies,” he alleged.