The 125th birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar, chief architect of India’s Constitution, on Thursday has become an opportunity for State governments and political parties to extract political mileage.

Ambedkar, also the tallest leader of the Dalits, found wide echo during the series of surcharged political events that followed the suicide of Rohit Vemula, a PhD scholar of the University of Hyderabad and part of the Ambedkar Students Association.

Political parties across the spectrum and leaders starting from Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal used every opportunity to invoke the leader’s great contribution and to showcase their commitment to the cause of Dalit uplift, and taking pot-shots at the BJP, accusing it of being anti-Dalit.

With five States in election mode, the BJP quickly launched an counter offensive, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the charge. His categorical statements that there will be no scrapping of quotas for Dalits at a Ambedkar Memorial lecture in Delhi on March 21 followed his eulogising of Ambedkar’ contributions at the BHU centenary year convocation.

On Thursday, Modi is set to visit Mhow in Madhya Pradesh, the birthplace of Ambedkar, to pay homage. He will address a large gathering of Ambedkar’s followers, who are expected to congregate from across the country in what is being termed as ‘Ambedkar Mahakumbh’.

Size matters: Statues row

In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, it’s a competition of a slightly different kind — building the tallest statue for Ambedkar. The two States plan to symbolically erect 125-feet-tall statues.

While Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced his intentions on March 29 to build the statue in the heart of the upcoming new capital, Amaravati, his Telangana counterpart, K Chandrasekhar Rao, has gone a step ahead, stating the foundation for the gigantic statue will be laid on April 14 in Hyderabad and the project completed in one year.

A committee under Deputy CM Kadiam Srihari scouted for a suitable location and zeroed in on the NTR Gardens complex on the banks of the picturesque Hussainsagar Lake. This top tourist hotspot in the heart of the city also houses a memorial for NTR, the popular CM of the combined AP.

In Amaravati, an ancient Buddhist town, Naidu intends developing a memorial garden for Ambedkar, who converted to Buddhism. Besides a museum and a library showcasing the works of the renowned thinker, the 15-acre complex will have the statue. The State government wants to organise year long celebrations as well.

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