CM: will Ambedkar followers join communal parties?

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday took an indirect dig at BJP leader V Srinivas Prasad, saying that those who follow B R Ambedkar will not associate themselves with communal parties.

Speaking after inaugurating Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations here, Siddaramaiah said people have to be cautious as communal forces have, of late, started praising Ambedkar. They pretend to be the followers of Ambedkar though they actually oppose his principles, he added.

“Is joining hands with communal forces self-respect?...I don’t know. But it is clear that those who follow Ambedkar will not associate themselves with communal forces,” he stated, in an apparent reference to Prasad, who lost the byelection from the Nanjangud Assembly constituency as the BJP candidate.

Later, Siddaramaiah conferred the 2017 Dr B R Ambedkar award on Dalit activist Guruprasad Keregodu.