NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal while hoisting the national flag on January 25 at the Delhi Secretariat announced that the Delhi government offices would no longer have the photos of politicians but instead the portraits of Dr Ambedkar and Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh to inspire everyone.
“The Delhi government will walk the path shown by Babasaheb Ambedkar and Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh and their vision will forever inspire us,” Kejriwal said, and added: “I am happy that the Delhi government is trying to fulfill the dreams that Babasaheb and Bhagat Singh saw for our Indian society. Not one government in the last 75 years tried to walk on the path shown by Dr Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh.”
Kejriwal said the government offices would henceforth not even have the chief minister’s picture.
The CM said he is most inspired by Ambedkar, born Dalit, who went on to head the drafting committee of India’s Constitution, and Bhagat Singh, a revolutionary freedom fighter, as they charted different courses for the same purpose. “I announce today that in every office of the Delhi government, pictures of Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh will be put up. We will not put up pictures of politicians, including the chief minister,” Kejriwal said.
Kejriwal added he felt amazed every time he thought about how Ambedkar would even have applied to Columbia University and then went to the London School of Economics when there was no Internet, around 100 years ago.
The CM said Ambedkar had a dream that every child should get the best education. “But even after 75 years of independence, we could not fulfill this. Today, on Republic Day, we pledge to fulfill this dream,” The CM also added that both Babasaheb and Bhagat Singh wanted an independent India wherein success did not depend on one’s caste or class.