Political parties, leaders outdo each other to claim Ambedkar's legacy

PM Modi says Congress 'snatched' rights of SC/STs; Rahul cites Telangana survey to claim that most gig workers from disadvantaged sections

Almost a year after the Constitution and its coat pocket edition became the leitmotif of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, political parties and leaders vied with each other on Monday with renewed zeal to celebrate the 135th birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar, the man credited with being the primary architect of the document.

 

The political contestation between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and regional parties to appropriate Ambedkar’s legacy was on display throughout the day.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who inaugurated several development projects in Haryana, said that Ambedkar “wanted every poor person to live with dignity, with their heads held high, but the Congress turned the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) into second-class citizens”.

 

In Hisar, PM Modi said if the Congress really has sympathy for Muslims, it should appoint a Muslim as its president and give 50 per cent tickets to people from the community.

 

He said Ambedkar advocated there should be no reservation on the basis of religion and the Constitution also bars it, but the Congress government in Karnataka gave reservation in tenders on the basis of religion by “snatching away” the rights of the SCs, STs and OBCs.

 

Congress too latched on to the occasion to attack the ruling BJP.

 

Party president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government paid mere lip service to Ambedkar.

 

He reiterated the party’s demand for a caste census and a law for the SC/ST sub-plan and guaranteed budgetary allocations commensurate with their respective populations.

 

To mark the occasion, the Congress government in Telangana issued an order on the implementation of SC sub-categorisation. Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said Telangana was the first state in the country to do so. State’s Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy directed officials to finalise the draft Bill aimed at providing social security to gig and platform workers by May 1 after taking suggestions, recommendations and objections.

 

Speaking at the Ahmedabad AICC session, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi lauded the Telangana government for conducting a caste census, and said it revealed how most of the gig workers were from disadvantaged sections.

 

In Bengaluru, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, at an event to mark Ambedkar’s birth anniversary, said he would speak on the caste census report of the state on April 17. The Karnataka cabinet accepted the Socio-Economic and Educational Survey, or ‘caste census’, on April 11. “Those who opposed Ambedkar and assassinated Mahatma Gandhi are trying to own them,” Siddaramaiah said.

 

The BJP, and the larger Sangh Parivar, also sought to lay claim to Ambedkar’s legacy. Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav said Ambedkar never accepted Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and now stands repealed.

 

Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami described the implementation of Uniform Civil Code in the state as a historic step towards the building of an India of Ambedkar’s dreams.

 

In Kanpur, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat praised Ambedkar for his “lifelong efforts to unite Hindus”, and drew parallels between Ambedkar and RSS founder K B Hedgewar. When Ambedkar once attended a Sangh shakha in Karad, Maharashtra, he said, “There may be differences on certain matters, but I feel a sense of belonging here.”

 

Debate around Waqf Bill started after hundreds of widows wrote to the Centre: PM

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in Hisar to inaugurate development projects, also attacked Congress over the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025.

 

He alleged that the Congress made “arbitrary changes” in the Waqf law for political mileage, turning the Constitution on its head.

 

The PM also said that the Waqf board owns lakhs of hectares of land in the country which could have been utilised for the benefit of the poor, the destitute women and children. “Had it been honestly utilised, Muslims youths would not have to spend their lives by fixing puncture tyres,” Modi said.

 

“It benefited only a handful of land mafia. There was no gain to Pasmanda Muslims. This land mafia was looting the land of Dalits, downtrodden, ‘adivasis’ and widows. Hundreds of widowed women wrote to the Centre and then a debate on this law took place,” the PM said.