Wooing Dalits: Ambedkar takes centre stage in the state ahead of elections

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary and Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar will be together participating at an event to be held at Ambedkar’s birthplace Mhow in Indore on Friday.

The move is seen as yet another attempt by the SP to reach out to Dalit voters and bring them together with OBCs by claiming similarities in the vision of Lohia and Ambedkar on social justice.

Both SP and RLD have, however, asked their district units to mark the day by holding meetings and making people understand how only their party can fulfil the dreams of Babasaheb.

Akhilesh, who recently unveiled a statue of BSP founder Kanshi Ram in Raebareli, has been accusing the BSP of distancing itself from the ideologies of both Kanshi Ram and Babasaheb and called upon Dalits to join him while projecting the SP to be the only party working towards the vision of both Lohia and Ambedkar for social justice.

The Mhow visit of the three young leaders is aimed at sending the message of unity among Dalits, OBCs and Jats in the fight for their rights.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is also not lagging far behind in the quest to win over Dalit voters. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and senior party leaders are scheduled to garland a statue of Ambedkar in Lucknow. The party has directed its committees up to the booth level to organise events to mark Ambedkar Jayanti by garlanding statues or portraits of Ambedkar and holding talks on his vision and ideologies.

“From state to booth level, our units will mark the day by discussing the vision of Ambedkar. We have been celebrating the entire week as the Social Justice week, which ends on Friday, by spreading the message Ambedkar and making people understand how our party is working on his ideologies,” said BJP spokesperson Himanshu Dubey.

BSP chief Mayawati, on the other hand, is likely to mark the day at her party office in Lucknow during which she may address her party leaders and workers. According to BSP leaders, every “mandal” (division) of the party has been asked to organise grand events on the day.

“We are the only party which cares about Ambedkar’s vision while the rest are doing politics for votes. Our people (Dalits) understand it. Besides, we are also making them aware not to fall for false promises,” said a senior BSP leader, adding that in the Lucknow division, the party will organise a programme at Ambedkar Smarak.

The Congress recently planned to mark the day at its state headquarters in Lucknow by garlanding Ambedkar’s portrait.

Notably, the Congress has appointed Dalit leader Brij Lal Khabri, who was earlier with the BSP, as its state president. Khabri has been given the party’s command to revive its fate in the state in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. However, it’s not clear whether the Congress has also directed its district units to mark the day. The party leadership says district units do it on their own every year.