Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, April 13: The Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken a strong stance against the Congress party following remarks by a state minister regarding Dr B R Ambedkar and Veer Savarkar, asserting that it was, in fact, the Congress that was responsible for Ambedkar’s electoral defeat.
Minister for social welfare H C Mahadevappa, a close confidant of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, had earlier alleged that Veer Savarkar conspired to ensure Ambedkar’s loss in the elections.
Responding sharply on Sunday, Leader of the Opposition in Assembly, R Ashoka, said, “It was the Congress party that fielded a candidate against Babasaheb Ambedkar. It was the Congress that crafted every possible strategy to ensure Ambedkar’s defeat. It was also the Congress that provided resources to Narayan Sadoba Kajrolkar in order to defeat Ambedkar. And ironically, it was the same Congress party that later gave him the Padma Bhushan as a reward for his defeat.”
“After orchestrating so many conspiracies to defeat Babasaheb and denying him the Bharat Ratna, for the Congress to now claim that Veer Savarkar was behind Ambedkar’s electoral loss is the height of shamelessness,” Ashoka charged.
He further stated, “Nowhere in Ambedkar’s comprehensive biographies – not even in the book published in 1974 by the Maharashtra Congress, nor in the volumes published by the Karnataka Congress – is there any mention of Veer Savarkar being linked to this matter.”
“The deep-seated resentment the Congress held toward Ambedkar and their repeated efforts to suppress and sideline him are clearly documented in history,” Ashoka added.
He also referred to statements made by members within the Congress itself, saying, “Even senior leaders from your own party, including the close associate of CM Siddaramaiah and former Speaker Ramesh Kumar, have spoken about the injustice done to Ambedkar by the Congress – in the Assembly itself. True followers of Ambedkar will never support the Congress party.”
Minister Mahadevappa, who belongs to an oppressed community, had earlier targeted the Leader of the Opposition and stated, “Babasaheb Ambedkar’s lifelong struggle was against people with a mindset like yours – rooted in Manuvaad – and against the very principles of that ideology. In such a context, when you continue to follow the path of Manuvaad instead of embracing the path of the Constitution and yet try to spread false propaganda against the Congress, it only makes me smile because it reflects a lack of awareness on your part,” he remarked.
“Babasaheb himself said that Savarkar was the reason for his electoral defeat. So instead of peddling false history, it would be enough if you simply believed the truth spoken by Babasaheb,” the Minister stated.
In 1952, Dr Ambedkar lost to his former personal assistant and Congress candidate Narayan Sadoba Kajrolkar in Bombay (North). Again in the 1954 by-election in Bhandara, he was defeated by another Congress nominee, Bhaurao Borkar.
