Both parties are devising novel ways to celebrate the social reformer’s 125th birth anniversary this year on April 14
The two main political parties — Congress and BJP— are vying for the legacy of BR Ambedkar, a dalit icon. Both parties are devising novel ways to celebrate the social reformer’s 125th birth anniversary this year on April 14, an apparent bid to reach out to dalits, particularly in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
The Congress has planned year-long celebrations to be launched in Mhow, Ambedkar’s birth place. The BJP, whose slogan will be “equality”, has asked its state units to project him as a multi-dimensional personality, who besides being a dalit icon also worked for economic development, women’s empowerment and the trade union movement.
With a section of dalits, which owed allegiance to Mayawati’s BSP, voting for the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, the party is trying to consolidate the vote bank in the assembly elections. While Bihar, which goes to polls later this year, has a dalit population of 16 per cent, in UP where elections are due in 2017, the segment constitutes round 20 per cent.
The Congress, from whom the BSP had weaned away the dalits, is trying to bring the constituency back into its fold. The celebration committee is chaired by Congress President Sonia Gandhi while Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will be its co-chairperson. Sushilkumar Shinde will be the vice-chairperson. The party had celebrated Jawaharlal Nehru’s 125th birth anniversary last year in a similar way.
The Congress plans signal two factors; to send out positive signals to the Dalits across the countr and pre-empt the BJP’s bid, as it did in the case of Sardar Patel, to hijack Ambedkar’s legacy. During the year-long celebration, the Congress will publicise Ambedkar’s contributions and writings. Sonia Gandhi, who has taken the reins of the party after Rahul Gandhi’s sabbatical, is also said to have planned some seminars and conventions where Ambedkar’s ideology will be disseminated.
Launching the “Samajik Samrasta Abhiyan (social equality campaign)”, the BJP and other Sangh Parivar organisations are also planning seminars across the country. “Earlier, the BJP’s scheduled Caste morcha used to organise functions on the day but now the party as a whole is celebrating,” said party spokesperson Vijay Sonkar Shastri.
Party president Amit Shah will address a meeting of party workers in Gandhi Maidan in Patna, the heart of the next electoral battle. In UP, party leaders will break bread with dalits and do social work at hospitals and orphanages, state president of the SC morcha Gautam Chaudhury said. “The message will be that of equality... This time we are paying more attention to the celebrations,” he said.
Meanwhile, the RSS mouthpieces in English and Hindi-- Organiser and Panchajanya-- are coming out with “Collector’s Edition” on the 125th birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar. The editions will be release senior RSS leader Bhaiyaji Joshi at a function here on April 14.
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