Apparently worried over the efforts by the Sangh Parivar to expand its ground among Dalit communities, the Congress has decided to celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of Babasaheb BR Ambedkar.

A committee consisting of top leaders has been formed to chart out the programmes.

Addressing the meeting, party president Sonia Gandhi said Ambedkar’s greatness cannot be reduced to any one particular accomplishment.

There has been a deliberate misinformation campaign about Ambedkar and the Congress, which need to be corrected, she added.

Similar philosophy “Ambedkar’s philosophy is 100 per cent in consonance with Congress thought. After all, he had worked closely in tandem with Congress leaders to shape the Constitution,” she said.

The party has decided to highlight Ambedkar’s partnership with Congress leaders in shaping a “secular” Constitution.

“Congress party will effectively counter the propaganda unleashed by some Dalit parties that portrayed Dr Ambedkar as anti-Congress.

“During the year-long celebrations the party will highlight various programmes and legislations brought out by various successive Congress governments at the Centre to empower Dalits,” the party said in a statement.

Losing Dalit base The Congress, which had been claiming a considerable base among Dalits, had lost it to various parties including the BSP and the BJP in various States.

Most recently, during the Delhi Assembly elections, the Dalit base of the Congress shifted completely towards the AAP. During the Lok Sabha elections too, the BJP sought to woo away Dalit voters from the Congress and the BSP.

The effort by the Congress is seen as a move to build its lost base among the Dalits.

The Sangh Parivar has also been claiming that the Father of the Indian Constitution was against religious conversions.

The RSS is also planning year-long programmes for Ambedkar’s birth anniversary.

“As Buddha, followed by Kabir, Guru Nanak and then Jyotiba Phule and Vivekananda, worked to rid the society of the ills of their time...Ambedkar was the pioneer of the fifth phase of resurrection, whose earlier heroes were Savarkar, Mahatma Gandhi and Madan Mohan Malviya,” said a special report on Ambedkar in RSS mouthpiece Panchajanya.

The BJP has also decided to celebrate Ambedlkar’s birth anniversary.

Addressing a programme of the Scheduled Caste Morcha of the BJP, party president Amit Shah said Ambedkar is not just a leader of Dalits.

“He stood for the rights of all people,” the party president had stated at the event.

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