Bharatiya Janata Party’s Madhya Pradesh President and Khajuraho MP, Vishnu Dutt Sharma, launched a scathing attack on the Congress party on Tuesday, accusing it of historically opposing Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and his ideology. Addressing the media at the BJP state headquarters, Sharma stated that both the Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family have consistently disrespected Dr. Ambedkar, both during his lifetime and posthumously.
Sharma criticised Congress’s planned three-day public awareness campaign starting June 23, saying that instead of pretending to honour Dr. Ambedkar, the party should undertake a "penance march" and observe a fast to apologise for its anti-Ambedkar actions. “Congress, which has always been against Babasaheb and the Constitution, is now staging political drama in Madhya Pradesh to incite social division and gain electoral mileage,” he alleged.
The BJP leader demanded an unconditional apology from Congress leaders such as Digvijaya Singh, Jitu Patwari, Umang Singhar, Phool Singh Baraiya, and the Nehru-Gandhi family for their past remarks and actions against Dr. Ambedkar. He emphasized that while the Congress never gave Ambedkar due respect, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has worked to honour his legacy by developing five key memorial sites, known as "Panch Teerth," associated with the Dalit icon.
Sharma further claimed that Congress did not allow a single memorial for Dr. Ambedkar to be built. He cited historical events, saying that it was the Congress that defeated Dr. Ambedkar in the 1952 general election and again in the 1954 by-election. “It was the Congress that forced Babasaheb to resign as Law Minister and denied him the Bharat Ratna,” Sharma said. “Instead, they awarded the Padma Bhushan to Narayan Kajrolkar, the man who defeated Ambedkar in elections.”
Highlighting the BJP’s efforts to honour Ambedkar, Sharma pointed out that the development of Dr. Ambedkar’s birthplace, Mhow, as a pilgrimage site began during the tenure of former Chief Minister Sundarlal Patwa, and was inaugurated by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Sharma credited Prime Minister Modi for significantly raising the stature of Dr. Ambedkar through initiatives like the Ambedkar International Centre in Delhi, the restoration of Ambedkar’s London residence, and commemorative sites at Nagpur’s Deeksha Bhoomi and Mumbai’s Chaitya Bhoomi. He contrasted this with the Congress’s inaction, alleging that even though former PM Chandra Shekhar had sanctioned land for the Delhi Ambedkar Centre, it was never built during Congress rule.
Referring to a controversial letter, Sharma alleged that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had once expressed satisfaction in a letter to Edwina Mountbatten over Ambedkar’s resignation from the cabinet. “It is shameful that a party with such a legacy is now pretending to honour Babasaheb,” Sharma concluded.