Congress betrayed Ambedkar's ideals: Kishan Reddy

HYDERABAD: Telangana BJP president and Union minister G. Kishan Reddy called for a nationwide debate on how the Congress betrayed the ideals of Dr B.R. Ambedkar and violated democratic norms over the past 75 years. Speaking at the Dr B.R. Ambedkar jayanti celebrations at the BJP state office, in the presence of Union minister of state for home affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar, BJP OBC Morcha national president Dr K. Laxman, party organisational incharge Chandrasekhar and others, Kishan Reddy alleged that the Congress forced Ambedkar to resign as Union law minister. He alleged that when Ambedkar passed away, Congress denied him final rites in Delhi—customarily extended to national leaders—and compelled the family to take his body to Mumbai.

“From the beginning, the Congress was against reservations. Jawaharlal Nehru even wrote to some states advising against their implementation,” Kishan Reddy claimed. “In contrast, the BJP government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken several initiatives to uphold Ambedkar’s vision,” he said.

Earlier, Kishan Reddy led a bike rally from the BJP office to Liberty and garlanded the statue of Ambedkar. Union minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar criticised the Congress government’s decision to celebrate Ambedkar Jayanti as a festival, calling it hypocritical. “It’s like the murderer holding a mourning ceremony,” he remarked. “Congress humiliated Ambedkar at every step, conspired against him and defeated him twice. They even denied him the Bharat Ratna but gave a Padma Bhushan to the person who defeated him. Now they want to celebrate his birth anniversary—it’s shameful,” he averred.

He stated that Ambedkar strengthened the ideological legacy of leaders like Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. “Ambedkar opposed the division of the country and the granting of special status to Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.

Dr K. Laxman said the Congress consistently neglected the welfare of backward classes. He noted that Nehru ignored the Kaka Kalelkar Commission report without even examining it. Indira Gandhi, during her tenure as Prime Minister, disregarded the Mandal Commission’s recommendations. “When V.P. Singh implemented the Mandal report, Rajiv Gandhi, then Leader of the Opposition, opposed it,” Laxman said.

He also criticised the Congress government in Telangana for allegedly including 10 per cent of Muslims in the backward class category. “They are showing BC population as 45 per cent, though the actual figure is 51 per cent,” he alleged. In a separate event, Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya unveiled new statues of Dr B.R. Ambedkar and Jagjivan Ram in Rotary Colony, Kavadiguda division of Gandhi Nagar, alongside other BJP leaders.