‘Two sides of the same coin’: Mayawati attacks Congress, BJP over Ambedkar row

Amid a raging controversy over Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks on B.R. Ambedkar, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Sunday hit out at the Congress and the BJP, saying both these parties have been engaged in politics in the name of the Constitution framer.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister claimed that there is a huge outrage among the people of the country over the disrespect shown to the “most revered Baba Saheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar” by Shah in parliament.

The BSP has called for a nationwide protest on December 24 against the home minister’s remarks.

Mayawati, meanwhile, also tore into the Congress, saying the opposition party’s stand on the Ambedkar row was "pure deception" and "politics of selfishness". 

"Congress and BJP etc. are two sides of the same coin when it comes to doing politics for the votes of followers of Baba Saheb in his name. All the parties are engaged in a conspiracy to harm BSP," she said.

"In reality, great saints, gurus and great men born in Bahujan Samaj including Baba Saheb got full respect and honour only in the BSP government, which these casteist parties cannot digest.”

Mayawati also targeted the Samajwadi Party for changing the names of districts, institutions and public welfare schemes.

Amit Shah, while talking in Rajya Sabha during a debate on the Constitution, had taken a swipe at the opposition parties for always using the name of Ambedkar. 

“It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. If they had taken God's name so many times, they would have attained heaven for seven lifetimes,” he had said.

His remarks sparked off a protest from the opposition parties which alleged that his statements had amounted to an “insult” to Ambedkar and demanded his resignation from the union cabinet.