LUCKNOW: Just an hour after President Ram Nath Kovind laid the foundation stone for Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Memorial and Cultural Centre in Lucknow on Tuesday, politics erupted over the centre in UP, where assembly polls are slated early next year with the BSP accusing the ruling BJP of remembering the Bharat Ratna only for electoral gains.
“The BSP isn’t against any memorial or centre named after Dr Ambedkar, but getting such events done just for electoral gains amounts to deception…After continuously committing atrocities against countless followers of Dr Ambedkar, the present UP government is getting the foundation stone of a memorial-centre laid. It’s nothing but drama. It’s not only the BJP government but other parties, including Samajwadi Party and Congress, too, which are indulging in such acts of deception and drama,” BSP supremo Mayawati tweeted.
The SP, too, went on an attack mode on the issue. “After being in power for four-and-a-half years, the BJP is remembering Dr Ambedkar when the elections are close. But the bitter reality is that maximum cases of atrocities against the Scheduled Castes have happened in this BJP regime, including the horrific Hathras incident,” party spokesperson Vivek Silas said.
Responding to the criticism, minister Swami Prasad Maurya said, “It’s surprising that instead of praising the foundation stone laying ceremony of the memorial and cultural centre (which will further Ambedkar’s vision) she is criticising it. How can she forget that it’s during the Modi government that five places connected with Dr Ambedkar’s life are being developed as Panch Teerths (Five Pilgrimages).”