Bhopal, Jan 23 Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti on Thursday hit at Congress, saying if the grand old party had worked on Ambedkar's ideas, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) would not have emerged.
She said that BSP has emerged as a political party because Dalits and other backwards lost their faith in Congress and it remained in power in the largest state - Uttar Pradesh for several years.
She added that the flourishing of BSP was the beginning of the debacle of Congress.
“The BSP is losing its ground in politics gradually as too has failed to fulfil the people’s wishes who supported it. Now, Dalit and other backward class have shifted towards the BJP," Bharati said while responding to Congress's allegations on BJP over Ambedkar.
During an interaction with media persons at her official address at Shyamla Hill in Bhopal, the former Chief Minister said that visiting Ambedkar's birthplace to launch a political campaign is a different issue but Congress has no right to seek an apology from the BJP over Ambedkar.
"If anyone should really apologize about Ambedkar's issue, then it is the Congress as it has failed to fulfil the aspiration of poor people despite being in power for several decades," she added.
Bharti's statement came days before Congress is set to kick-start a nationwide campaign - 'Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan' to gain support from the followers of Ambedkar from his birthplace in Madhya Pradesh's Mhow on January 27.
The campaign would be launched in the presence of the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.
All the members of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), formers and sitting Chief Ministers along with senior leaders of the grand old party will participate in Mhow's event.
Congress is organising the first such political event in Madhya Pradesh after the party witnessed a humiliating defeat in the state Assembly elections in November 2023, which prompted Congress’ central leadership to replace veteran leader Kamal Nath with Jitu Patwari as new state unit chief.
Congress also lost all 29 Lok Sabha swats to the BJP in the 2024 general elections. It is also the Congress’s first big event in Madhya Pradesh under the leadership of Jitu Patwar.
--IANS
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