Ambedkar's new name a publicity stunt: Mayawati

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Thursday said the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh changed Bhim Rao Ambedkar's name in official records to Bhim Rao 'Ramji' Ambedkar to gain cheap popularity.

While speaking on the move by the state government to introduce 'Ramji' as the middle name of the Dalit leader, the BSP chief said the Centre was, on the contrary, inflicting atrocities and exploiting Baba Saheb's followers.

The BSP leader also said the Constitutional Rights framed by the late social reformer were either made invalid or were ineffective.

She also said the jurist's followers had such respect for the Dalit Buddhist Movement leader that they preferred calling him Baba Saheb rather than taking his name.

The Uttar Pradesh government, earlier in the day, ordered that all documents and records should refer to the icon as Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, whose name is often caught in the tug-of-war between various political parties coveting support of Dalits in the country.

The name change was apparently suggested by another "Ram" - Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, who had been campaigning for the "right way" to write Ambedkar's name since December 2017. He had even written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over it.