Union Minister Virendra Kumar on Thursday slammed the Congress saying that they limited Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar's identity to that of a Dalit leader for vote bank politics only, and not gave him due respect.
On the occasion of Ambedkar's birth anniversary, the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment while addressing a press conference under the 'Samajik Nyay Pakhwada', observed by the BJP to mark its 42nd foundation day, said, "Congress did the work of taking the name of Bhimrao Ambedkar ji for vote bank politics, but no steps were taken by them in the direction of giving respect to him."
Further lambasting the Congress, the Union Minister said that it was only when the BJP-supported government was ruling that Ambedkar was given the country's highest honour, Bharat Ratna.
Kumar lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership under which, the Centre recognised Ambedkar's role in shaping modern India, and restored his due credit as the "architect of the Constitution".
"After the death of Ambedkar, the then governments did not take any initiative to build any kind of memorial. But in 2014, when Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, he built Panch-tirths."
The Union Minister further talked about how PM Modi's vision of making the backward sections self-reliant through education and skill training has helped the section become financially capable.
The Union Minister also claimed that Ambedkar had opposed Article 370. "He pointed out to both Nehru and Jinnah that it is not in the interest of the country."
"Today the work of fulfilling the dream of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar is being done by our government, under the leadership of PM Modi," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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