Ambedkar Jayanti today, how BJP and allies, Opposition are trying to outdo each other

Four months since that stand-off in Parliament, the parties in the ruling NDA alliance and the INDIA bloc have organised a range of programmes — from a marathon and community feasts to seminars and Preamble recitals — to observe Ambedkar Jayanti.

BJP and allies

The BJP on Sunday launched a cleanliness drive focusing on Ambedkar statues across the country, and lit up the areas around these statues with earthen lamps. The party also organised a “Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Marathon” in Lucknow, while Union Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya led a Jai Bhim padayatra in Patna.

On Monday, BJP leaders and workers will garland Ambedkar statues and recite the Preamble of the Constitution. According to a BJP insider, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will visit the Chaitya Bhoomi, where Ambedkar was cremated. The party also plans to organise seminars from April 15 to April 25 in Ambedkar’s honour.

BJP national spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal said the party celebrated Ambedkar Jayanti with the same zeal earlier too, but there was more attention this time “because Opposition parties like the Congress created a false narrative over the Constitution”.

A BJP leader, who did not wish to be named, said, “Since the Opposition has been talking a lot about the Constitution and Dalits for the past one year, the BJP is organising bigger programmes. This is significant given the election coming up in Bihar later this year, and will hold the party in good stead in UP too for the 2027 election. The SP and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) have been accusing the BJP government of trying to change the Constitution.”

Not willing to be left behind, BJP allies Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), and Apna Dal (Soneylal) have also prepared a roster of programmes to mark the occasion. The RLD and the Apna Dal (S), which are key BJP allies in Uttar Pradesh, will launch membership drives on Monday.

“We are known as an OBC-focused party. But we also get the support of Dalits in eastern UP. That is why we are launching a membership drive with a special focus on them,” said an Apna Dal (S) leader. Party chief and Union Minister Anupriya Patel will launch the drive in Shahjahanpur, which is a Lok Sabha seat reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SCs).

RLD chief and Union Minister Jayant Chaudhary had announced his party’s membership drive in Delhi on Saturday, saying Ambedkar was not just the leader of the SCs and the Scheduled Tribes. “Unka dayra usse bahut bada hai (his scope is much larger),” he said.

In Bihar, JD(U) chief and CM Nitish Kumar addressed a “Bhim Samvad” event in Patna on Sunday, recalling Ambedkar’s contribution to the Constitution. A banner in the background had the photos of Ambedkar, the CM, and other JD(U) leaders, along with the slogan, “Haan, hum Dalit hain (Yes, we are Dalits)”.

JD(U) national spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad said JD(U) workers would pay floral tributes to Ambedkar at all party offices in Bihar on Monday.

INDIA alliance

The SP and the Congress are also gearing up to observe Ambedkar Jayanti.

In Uttar Pradesh, SP district units are currently in the middle of organising week-long celebrations, called the “Swambhiman Samman Samaroh”, to mark the occasion. The party is looking to reach out to prominent members of the Dalit community and felicitate them at these events that have been jointly organised by the Samajwadi Baba Saheb Ambedkar Vahini and the Samajwadi SC Cell. On Saturday, SP president Akhilesh Yadav unveiled an Ambedkar statue in Etawah, his home district. Akhilesh will pay tributes at the Ambedkar statue in Lucknow’s Hazratganj crossing.

The Congress, which recently ran a national programme called “Jai Bapu, Jai Samvidhan” to build on the Constitution narrative, has directed all its district and city units across India to ensure party leaders and workers pay floral tributes to Ambedkar on Monday.

UP Congress leaders said multiple events had been planned in each district. These programmes will be held in Dalit-dominated areas, and the district units will have to send a report to the state leadership, according to party insiders.

The Uttarakhand Congress will organise, among other things, a community feast and seminars, while the party’s Jharkhand unit has plans to form a human chain in Ranchi.