Yogi Adityanath adds 'Ramji' to Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar name, kicks up controversy

Just days ahead of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has kicked up a row by passing an order to add 'Ramji' in the name of the Dalit icon.

According to a government order, the full name of the Dalit icon — Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar —will now be written in all official documents, records and communiqué. The diktat comes in light of the letter shot off by Governor Ram Naik asking the government to issue necessary directions to write the full name of the dalit ideologue at all places, but has led to sharp reactions from opposition as it claims the government is trying to saffronise the name.

"It bears his signature in full as Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar," claimed Jitendra Kumar, Principal Secretary General Administration. After making inquiries from the Central Secretariat to be doubly sure, the Yogi Adityanath government passed the order.

A senior BSP leader Lalji Verma said that changing the name of Dr Ambedkar after so many decades smells of a political conspiracy and is an insult to Dalits. "We have been writing Babasaheb's name as Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar for the past several decades. Adding 'Ramji' to his name clearly suggests that the BJP wants to hijack the Dalit icon the way they did Mahatma Gandhi by using his name to launch Swachch Bharat Mission," rued the BSP leader.