Nehru got Constituent Assembly seat vacated for Ambedkar: UP Congress chief

Lucknow: Amid the BJP's attack on the Congress over B R Ambedkar, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai on Tuesday said former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru got a seat of the Constituent Assembly vacated for the chief architect of India's Constitution after which he was elected as a member in the byelections.

Rai's remarks assume significance as they come within hours of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launching a scathing attack on the Congress as he accused the party of repeatedly disrespecting Ambedkar during his lifetime and undermining his legacy after his death.

Responding to the comments made by Adityanath, Rai said in a statement, "Ambedkarji was elected to the Constituent Assembly from the Bengal Assembly, but when his assembly seat went to East Pakistan, he was no longer a member of the Constituent Assembly. After Independence, when the drafting committee of the Constituent Assembly was to be formed, Pt Nehru and Sardar Patel went to the Dalit colony behind the Birla Mandir in Delhi, where Bapu used to live in those days for consultation on it.

"Dr Ambedkar's name was decided in the meeting there. Then it was necessary to bring Dr Ambedkar to the House first," he said, adding that Nehru got M R Jayakar of Pune resigned from the Constituent Assembly and vacated the seat.

Ambedkar was elected to that seat as a member of the Constituent Assembly in a byelection from the Bombay State Assembly constituency. Later, when the Drafting Committee was formed, he was made its chairman, Rai said.

Rai added that people were guessing that the chairman will be from the Congress, but when Pt Nehru announced that Ambedkar, who was associated with the opposition, would be made the chairman, Ambedkar himself was shocked along with others.

"Dr Ambedkar ji did the great work of drafting the Constitution of the world's largest democracy in India by standing shoulder to shoulder with the majority party Congress and the leader of the House, Pt Nehru," the UP Congress chief said.

Rai said as a law minister, Ambedkar was the architect of the Hindu Code Bill, which was fiercely opposed by Hindu organisations like Hindu Mahasabha, RSS and Ram Rajya Parishad who created uproar from Parliament to the streets. In the backdrop of this, the government postponed the bill for a few days so that its positive aspects could be explained to the people.

Saddened by the postponement of the bill, Ambedkar resigned from the post of minister, Rai said in the statement.

He also said as far as Ambedkar's defeat in the 1952 Lok Sabha elections is concerned, he was in a different party from the Congress and despite mutual respect among leaders, parties still fight elections against each other.

"The Congress party fielded an unknown candidate and after that he was elected to Rajya Sabha. Therefore, instead of accusing Congress, Yogi ji should tell that if his people respected Ambedkar ji, then why did Bharatiya Jana Sangh field a candidate against Dr Ambedkar in that parliamentary election and were their leaders campaigning for Dr Ambedkar then?" Rai said.

He also said Shah should tender an apology over his remarks on Ambedkar and resign.

Meanwhile, Congress workers on Tuesday took out the 'Babasaheb Ambedkar Samman March' in the entire state in protest against the remarks made by Shah about Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar.

The march started in every district by garlanding the statue of Ambedkar. After the peaceful march, a memorandum was submitted to the president through the concerned police commissioner or district magistrate, the UP Congress said.