Exhorting the youth to follow the ideology of Dr B.R. Ambedkar and caste discrimination, the state Congress unit questioned the BJP government at the Centre as to what ideology it was trying to impose in the country.
Gathered at Gandhi Bhawan on the valedictory function of the 125 th birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar, the Congress leaders reiterated that the party honoured Baba Saheb the most and was in turn criticised by other political parties for its relationship with the great Dalit thinker.
The Congress leaders alleged that the BJP is a 'copycat' political party and decided to celebrate Dr Ambedkar's anniversary only after the Congress announced to do it.
Congress Working Committee member and Rajya Sabha member Mohsina Kidwai said, "The Muslim league at the time of independence, and the RSS in the present time, are two sides of the same coin. While Muslim league was instrumental in partition, the RSS was indulging in dividing the society and the country on communal lines," she said.
Kidwai questioned as to where was the RSS at the time of independence. “Now the BJP is adopting Gandhi, Patel and Ambedkar to show its fake love for the country. Nehru never deserted Dr Ambedkar nor there was any dispute between them," asserted the senior Congress leader.
Speaking at the fucntion, chief guest and Former Union minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said, "Congress should follow the path shown by Dr Ambedkar. Baba Saheb’s main agenda was to fight for ensuring the rights of the oppressed sections and not only for the Dalits."
"Dr Ambedkar wanted that all the oppressed sections should get the cover of the Indian Constitution. Besides, he strongly advocated for ending discrimination on the basis of caste and creed in the society," he added.
AICC general Secretary and UP in-charge, Madhusudan Mistri criticised the BJP government at the Centre for curtailing funds for the Dalits and other oppressed sections.
Chairperson of AICC SC Cell, K Raju said that party vice president Rahul Gandhi had always supported the cause of the Falits. “Congress had always fought for the Dalits while on the contrary, the BJP was trying to do vote politics by celebrating Dr Ambedkar's birth abbiversary," he said.
The function was addressed by senior Congress leaders including Rajya Sabha members Pl Punia and Pramod Tiwari along with UP Congress president Nirmal Khatri.
Punia appreciated the Bhim Jyoti Yatra that covered 44 districts of UP brought out on the birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar. He also demanded reservation in private sector besides implementing reservation in promotion. Congress leaders who worked for the success of the Bhim Jyoti Yatra were also felicitated on this occasion.