Bengaluru, Dec 18 (IANS) The Karnataka unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has slammed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for criticising Union Home Minister Amit Shah, alleging that the senior BJP leader had ‘insulted’ B.R. Ambedkar.
Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka and Karnataka BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra have questioned CM Siddaramaiah’s claims of respect for Ambedkar, calling them superficial and dismissing them as mere gimmicks.
R. Ashoka chided: “As the revered poet Kanakadasa said ‘what use is penance or devotion if one is filled with hypocrisy and impurity?’ It is time for you, CM Siddaramaiah, to set aside your pretentious display of love and respect for Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.”
Kanakadasa is a great poet revered and claimed as an iconic figure by the Kuruba community from which CM Siddaramaiah hails.
Ashoka said: “It was your Congress party that defeated Ambedkar in elections, refused to grant land for his cremation, and shamelessly conferred the Bharat Ratna upon its own leaders while denying it to Ambedkar. And now, by distorting Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s speech, you continue to insult Babasaheb yet again.
“It’s no surprise that Amit Shah’s speech, which exposed Congress’ betrayals and immense disrespect toward Ambedkar, has left you embarrassed and frustrated.”
The BJP leader further said: “Had the people not rejected the Congress, which awarded itself the Bharat Ratna while neglecting Ambedkar, today Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi might have received the honour, but Ambedkar would not have. It took a BJP-supported government to bestow the Bharat Ratna on Ambedkar.
“If the people had not rejected Congress — the party that denied a proper burial site for Ambedkar — the five key sites associated with his life (birthplace, education, and passing) would not have been developed into the sacred Panchteerths that they are today.”
“You (Siddaramaiah), who spend crores of rupees organising ‘Siddaramaotsava’, never thought of organising an ‘Ambedkar Utsav’. Because for you, Ambedkar is only remembered during elections. To impress the high command for power and position, you didn’t even consider renaming Indira Canteens as Ambedkar Canteens. This is because you lack genuine commitment to Ambedkar. In your six and a half years as Chief Minister, have you named a single scheme or programme after Ambedkar?
“You can only twist Amit Shah’s speech and present half-truths to mislead people. But no amount of deceit can hide your and your anti-Dalit Congress party’s hypocrisy regarding Ambedkar and the Constitution he framed. It’s clear to the entire state that your respect for Ambedkar is neither heartfelt nor genuine — it’s just an election stunt,” Ashoka slammed.
Taking objection to the statements made by the Union Home Minister in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Karnataka Chief Minister on Wednesday stated that had B.R. Ambedkar not been born he (Siddaramaiah) might have been herding cattle in his village and Amit Shah would have been running a scrap business in his hometown.
In his open letter addressed to HM Amit Shah, CM Siddaramaiah stated: “Our senior leader, Mallikarjun Kharge Ji, wouldn’t have risen to lead the AICC and he might have been working in a factory in Kalaburagi. We owe every step of our progress and dignity to Babasaheb and the Constitution he gave us.”
–IANS
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