BJP eroding Ambedkar's legacy, PM Modi paying mere lip-service: Congress leader Kumari Selja

NEW DELHI: The Congress today accused the BJP of 'eroding' the legacy of Babasaheb Ambedkar and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was merely paying him lip service as his party and the RSS have an 'anti-Dalit mindset'.

Congress leader Kumari Selja also charged the prime minister with doing politics over the legacy of the Dalit icon.

"The BJP and RSS have an 'anti-Dalit' mindset as their government has abolished the sub-plan for SC/STs, have talked of ending reservation and amendment to the Constitution which was framed by Ambedkar," Selja said while addressing a press conference on Ambedkar Jayanti.

"They are simply paying lip service (to Ambedkar), as the prime minister is prone to -- time and again. (It) does not take away the fact that they are trying to erode the legacy of Babasaheb Ambedkar," she said.

Selja said the Congress party gave Ambedkar the responsibility to draft the Constitution under his chairmanship.

"We should not forget the views of the RSS about Babasaheb Ambedkar. He was an eminent scholar, an experienced person whose expertise was acknowledged by everybody," she said.

The Congress leader alleged that the BJP was trying to amend the Constitution drafted by the Dalit icon and putting "a question mark" on reservation.

"Is it respect if you try to amend the legacy of Babasaheb Ambedakar? They have no moral right to raise a finger against Congress," she said.

Shelja said the Modi government had reduced budget allocation for schemes related to the welfare of the Scheduled Castes leading to a "whooping decrease" in the number of jobs for them.

"Is it their (BJP) commitment? In no way are they standing with the weaker section of the society," she said, adding that incidents of atrocities on Dalits were on the rise in India.

Shelja also rejected the BJP's claim that the Congress was "politicising" the Unnao and Kathua rape cases.

"When we talk about Unnao and Kathua rape cases, you could straight away see the politics in it. The PM had to break his silence after (widespread criticism). They never say that their own people are involved some way or the other," she said.

"Such heinous crimes are happening because the administrative system has become so weak that power people think that they could go scot-free after committing such acts," she added.

Referring to the reported incident of Ambedkar's sculpture locked in an iron cage and a police personnel deputed for its protection in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun, she said, "You have not kept his statue in the cage but his ideologies".