Mayawati corners BJP, RSS over Ambedkar's name change

Launching a fresh attack against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) over Bhim Rao Ambedkar's name change, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Saturday said that they were more interested in vote bank politics than working for the upliftment of the backward classes.

Addressing the media, the BSP supremo said, "The BJP-RSS government does not care about the torture on the people of backward castes and tribals. They are more focused on making Babasaheb 'Ramji' instead of working for the people of his caste. They are only interested in vote bank politics and nothing else."

Earlier in the day, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav took a jibe at the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government, saying that they don't do any work other than confusing the masses.

On March 29, the Uttar Pradesh government 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.