Dr Ambedkar's 125th birth anniversary celebrations

VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee ( APCC) spokesperson Kolanukonda Shivaji announced today that the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Dr BR Ambedkar will be launched here on Saturday.

He said that former union minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, All India Congress Committee's (AICC) Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Cell convenor Koppula Raju, Congress party's Andhra Pradesh affairs in-charge Thirunavukkarasar, APCC president N Raghuveera Reddy and others would participate.

Shivaji told PTI that Congress is only the national party which supports scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward castes and minorities.

He said that the Congress and the UPA had implemented several welfare schemes for the benefit of these communities.

The Congress also resolved in the recently held AICC meeting at Delhi to provide 50 per cent reservations for scheduled castes in party committees at various levels.

He questioned the "silence" maintained by the BJP and the Telugu Desam Party on Hardik Patel's movement demanding reservations for Patels in Gujarat, alleging that it showed that both these parties indirectly support the reservations for forward communities.