Congress always insulted Ambedkar, should apologise for its 'sins': MP CM Mohan Yadav

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Monday claimed the Congress always "disrespected" Dr B R Ambedkar and did not let him win any Lok Sabha election during his lifetime.

The opposition Congress should apologise for its "sins", Yadav told reporters after paying tributes to Bharatiya Jana Sangh's founding president Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his death anniversary.

Mookerjee founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the precursor to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in 1951. He died in custody in Jammu and Kashmir in 1953 after he was arrested for entering the state without permit, an official requirement he was fiercely opposed to and considered an impediment to the region's full integration with the country.

Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Indian Constitution and social reformer, was born in Mhow (Dr Ambedkar Nagar) in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district on April 14, 1891. He died on December 6, 1956 in New Delhi.

"When Ambedkar passed away in Delhi, the Congress even refused to conduct his last rites, forcing his wife to take his mortal remains by a plane to Mumbai (then Bombay) for cremation. The Congress leaders also charged his wife for the plane (fare) on which his body was taken," CM Yadav claimed.

"The Congress should apologise for its sins. It has always disrespected Ambedkar ji," he said.

The chief minister also targeted the Congress for announcing an agitation amid a row over the installation of Ambedkar's statue in the premises of the Madhya Pradesh High Court's Gwalior bench.

A tussle is underway for the past one month between a group of lawyers opposing the installation and another supporting it.

The state Congress leaders have said the party will launch a campaign later this month against what they claimed as “hurdles” being created by the RSS-BJP in the installation of Ambedkar’s statue at the Gwalior bench complex of the HC.

Yadav said the Congress should spell out what it had done for Ambedkar's birthplace in Mhow during its 55-year-rule in the state. It even tried to overlook his birthplace, he added.

The Congress has not done anything for the Deekshabhoomi (Nagpur) and they are talking about Gwalior, Yadav said.

Ambedkar embraced Buddhism at Deekshabhoomi in 1956, making it a revered site for millions of his followers.

"The Congress has always insulted Ambedkar ji. Our countrymen, people of the state and all classes know about the fake pomp of Congress," the CM said.

The grand old party had ensured that Ambedkar does not emerge victorious in any elections during his lifetime, he alleged.

On the row over installation of Ambedkar's statue in the HC's Gwalior bench, Yadav said, "The honorable Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court has formed a committee. The government will abide by the decision taken by that committee. We have said from the first day, the party has said that we will do whatever we can for Ambedkar."

He said that by announcing an agitation on the issue, the Congress was trying to cover up its "sins" on the issues pertaining to Ambedkar, Emergency and Article 370, which was opposed by both Ambedkar and Mookerjee.

Despite Ambedkar's opposition to Article 370, the Congress had included it in the Constitution, Yadav said.

"Ambedkar's soul cried that day when the Scheduled Tribes of the entire Jammu and Kashmir were deprived of their rights through Article 370. The Congress did not let Ambedkar win any Lok Sabha election while he was alive," he claimed.

"The truth behind Mookerjee's death, an apparent murder, was not allowed to come out in front of the country. So, this is the history of Congress," Yadav said.