Cong gave away Hindu-majority areas where Ambedkar won to Pakistan: Union Minister

Bengaluru, April 11 (IANS) Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, on Friday, launched a scathing attack on the Congress, saying the party had insulted B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, at every step.

He alleged that Congress gave away constituencies with a Hindu majority, where Ambedkar had won, to Pakistan as part of its malicious strategy.

Now, the party is shedding crocodile tears to woo Dalit votes, he added.

Speaking at the inauguration of the "Bheem Hejje" centenary celebration in Bengaluru, Union Minister Joshi accused the Congress of deliberately undermining Ambedkar's electoral victories.

"Bheem Hejje" event marks Ambedkar's speech at a 1925 conference of the Hitakarini Sabha in Nippani town of Belagavi district in Karnataka.

He claimed that the constituencies of Jessore, Khulna, and Haridpur -- where Ambedkar had support -- were handed over to Pakistan.

He said that Congress has continuously disrespected Ambedkar from the pre-Independence era to the present.

The current Congress government in Karnataka not celebrating the centenary of Bheem Hejje is another example of this ongoing disregard, he added.

According to Union Minister Joshi, when Ambedkar tried to enter the Constituent Assembly through elections, Congress defeated him twice through conspiracies.

The Union Minister said that Ambedkar finally got elected from Bengal on the insistence of Dalit leader Jogendranath Mandal, but even then, Congress couldn't tolerate his win and ensured the Hindu-majority constituencies he won were ceded to Pakistan.

In the first Lok Sabha election in 1952, when Ambedkar contested from Mumbai North, Congress allegedly fielded their close party aide to defeat him, he added.

Prime Minister late Jawahar Lal Nehru himself campaigned against Ambedkar, Union Minister Joshi said.

Ambedkar was again defeated in the 1954 Bhandara by-election, he added.

The same Congress party that awarded a Padma Bhushan to Narayan Kajrolkar -- who defeated Ambedkar -- denied him the Bharat Ratna award, the Union Minister said.

They didn't even allow the unveiling of Ambedkar's portrait in Parliament or allocate proper space for his cremation in Delhi, forcing his followers to carry out the last rites on a beach in Mumbai, Union Minister Joshi claimed.

He noted that it was the BJP-supported V.P. Singh government in 1990 that finally honoured Ambedkar with the Bharat Ratna.

It was due to Atal Bihari Vajpayee's insistence that Ambedkar's portrait was installed in Parliament, he said.

Union Minister Joshi also mentioned that Ambedkar was the first Indian to earn a PhD in economics.

He alleged that Ambedkar had written a letter to Nehru's government while resigning from the party, outlining how the Congress humiliated him and opposed reservations for the Dalits and OBCs.

He claimed that Ambedkar's letter has been erased from history by the Congress.

Union Minister Joshi said that when Ambedkar provided constitutional reservations for Dalits, Nehru opposed them and wrote to all Chief Ministers against it.

Later, former PM late Rajiv Gandhi also gave long speeches against reservations for Dalits and OBCs, he added.

He said that today's Congress leaders carry the same mindset, merely using Dalits, OBCs, and Muslims as vote banks.

Union Minister Joshi alleged that Congress's anti-Dalit mindset is hereditary -- from Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi.

Recently, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge was also insulted by being made to sit on a side sofa rather than being given a prominent seat during a Congress event, he added.

Union Minister Joshi criticised the Karnataka-led Congress government for ignoring the Bheem Hejje centenary celebration, despite celebrating Mahatma Gandhi's visit to Belagavi with grandeur.

He said that the Congress-led state government should have convened an all-party meeting and organised the event respectfully by involving Dalit leaders and thinkers.

He added that BJP is commemorating the centenary of Bheem Hejje -- marking Ambedkar's speech at a 1925 conference of the Hitakarini Sabha in Nippani -- over five days in different parts of the state.

The concluding ceremony will be held on April 15 in Nipani, with a bike rally from Bengaluru to Nipani.

Opposition leaders R. Ashoka, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, BJP MP Govind Karjol, and various Dalit leaders participated in the inauguration of the event in Bengaluru.

--IANS

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