Ambedkar legacy: Congress takes potshots over' tokenism' by parties

NEW DELHI: Amid the political race to claim B R Ambedkar's legacy, Congress today took potshots at other parties, claiming they have mostly engaged in "tokenism" in his name as it announced nationwide programmes to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Dalit icon.

"Most other non-Congress political parties have engaged in tokenism in order to appropriate the national icon for cheap political purposes...there has been a deliberate misinformation campaign about Ambedkar and Congress party, which needs to be corrected," the party said in a statement after Congress President Sonia Gandhi chaired a meeting to chalk out the celebration plans.

Rahul Gandhi will attend the national launch of the Dalit icon's s 125th birth anniversary celebrations in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, next month, the second major public outreach programme of Congress after Kisan-Khet Mazdoor rally here on April 19 against NDA's land acquisition law.

Faced with the daunting task of reviving its fortunes since the unprecedented setback in Lok Sabha poll last year, Congress is making a serious bid to counter the portrayal of Ambedkar as "anti-Congress".

"Ambedkar is such an icon today that we fail to fully appreciate the remarkable scale of what he accomplished," Sonia Gandhi said as she talked about the faith he "shared with" Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and all the stalwarts of the freedom movement.

Insisting that it is Congress party that implemented Ambedkar's ideals like implementation of reservation in education and employment for SCs, AICC general secretary K Raju said that the party will strive to highlight "Ambedkar's partnership with Congress leaders" in shaping the Constitution.

"Congress Party will effectively counter the propaganda unleashed by some Dalit parties that portrayed Ambedkar as anti-Congress," he said.

Former Union minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who is the vice-chairperson of the committee to chalk out celebration plans, will participate in commemoration celebratrions in Ambedkar's birthplace Mhow tomorrow.

"In the last week of May, there will be a national launch of Ambedkar's 125th birth annversary celebrations in Mhow to be attended by the Congress Vice President," the AICC said.

The year-long celebration plans by Congress have been chalked out at a time when the NDA government, BJP and RSS have also decided to highlight the contribution of Ambedkar.

Congress's move came amidst concerns voiced in the party that BJP was trying to "appropriate" the legacies of icons who were either ignored or perceived to have been ignored by the Congress.