Should we vote for Congress, which defeated Ambedkar in election, asks ST leader Appanna

Mysuru: Former chairman of Jungle Lodges and Resorts M Appanna asked, should the people, including of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and backward communities, vote for the Congress, which conspired to defeat B R Ambedkar in Lok Sabha elections?

He was addressing a media conference, here, on Friday, along with members of Valmiki (Nayaka) community, like Mysuru Chamarajanagar Nayaka Association president M Ramachandra, former MLC Siddaraju, former Mayor Shivakumar, Jayaprakash Chikkanna, Prashanth, Ramakrishna and Mariswamy.

Ambedkar harassed

Appanna said, Ambedkar is like God for SC, ST and BC communities. “But, the Congress harassed Ambedkar. Thus, the people of these communities will vote for the BJP in the entire Bharat, as the BJP-supported V P Singh government conferred Bharat Ratna on Ambedkar. Besides, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has immense respect for both Constitution and Ambedkar, has developed the five places related to him, as centres of pilgrimage at a cost of over Rs 1,200 crore,” he said.

He said, “Panchteerth are five significant places connected to Ambedkar. They are: Janam Bhoomi, situated in Mhow (now Dr Ambedkar Nagar) in Madhya Pradesh; Sikhsha Bhoomi, Ambedkar's residence during his studies at London School of Economics, in London; Deeksha Bhoomi, in Nagpur, where Ambedkar converted to Buddhism; Mahaparinirvan Sthal, where Ambedkar attained Mahaparinirvana on December 6, 1956; and Chaitya Bhoomi, Dadar Chowpatty, where Ambedkar was laid to rest, after his death”.

ST leaders

Appanna said, among 543 MPs in Lok Sabha, the BJP has 99 MPs from ST communities and across India, in state Assemblies, among 2,160 MLAs, the BJP has 594 MLAs from ST communities.

Commenting on the accusations of Congress and other parties that the BJP would change the Constitution, Appanna said, Modi himself has stated that even if Ambedkar comes back, the Constitution cannot be changed. “The Congress leaders might be speaking about the amendments. But, they should remember that out of over 100 amendments, the Congress has done over 80. So, according to them, the Congress has already changed the Constitution over 80 times,” he said.

Loyalty

Recalling legendary rulers like Madakari Nayaka of Chitradurga and Shivappa Nayaka of Shivamogga, Appanna said Nayaka community members have been kings and soldiers since ages. “They were loyal to the Wadiyars, in Mysuru, since centuries. Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar is no less than Ambedkar for us. Wadiyar gave Constitution and reservation to people even before the Independence,” he said.

Appanna said, only Modi gave official reservation to Parivara, Talawara other communities with the efforts of State BJP leaders, while earlier chief minister Basavaraja Bommai increased the reservation percentage for ST communities. ST leader Siddarajau was made MLC and Shivakumar was made Mysuru Mayor, even though the posts were not reserved for ST communities.

Support

Appanna said, in Mysuru region, we support the National Democratic Alliance candidates - Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar of BJP in Mysore-Kodagu segment, H D Kumaraswamy of JD(S) in Mandya, Prajwal Revanna of JD(S) in Hassan and S Balaraj in Chamarajanagar.