Congress 'shameless' party, using Ambedkar for 'political gains': Himanta

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday termed the Congress as a "shameless" party which is using Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's name for "political gains" only.

He claimed that Congress had launched innumerable schemes and established many institutions in the name of leaders from Jawaharlal Nehru's family, but there was no such establishment after Ambedkar.

"Congress does not have any shame. The party which imposed emergency, suspended the Constitution, killed democracy, that Congress is doing processions in the name of the Constitution, and it shows that they don't have any shame. It will not be an exaggeration if they are termed as shameless," Sarma told reporters here.

He said that the Congress rolled out Indira Gandhi Awas Yojana, launched many schemes in the name of Rajiv Gandhi and named many big universities in the country after Jawaharlal Nehru.

"...but have you dedicated even one scheme in the name of Babasaheb Ambedkar? Forget university, but have you even named a school after him? "Can anyone tell me if there was a photograph of Ambedkar in any Rajiv Bhawan before yesterday? I was in Congress for 22 years and never saw a picture of him in Rajiv Bhawan," Sarma said.

He said that Ambedkar's Jayanti was celebrated at AICC on Tuesday but wondered since when did Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi started garlanding the statue or portrait of Ambedkar.

"When Ambedkar resigned from the ministry, it was told that the country would not suffer. You gave Bharat Ratna to everyone in the world, but not to Ambedkar.

"Today to avail political advantage, Ambedkar's memory, ideology, sacrifice have been made a weapon for political gains only. This is such a notorious and shameful act that has never taken place in India," the CM said.