New Delhi, April 14 On the 129th birth anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar on Tuesday, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi in an audio message urged people to read the Preamble of the Constitution while staying at home due to lockdown, and remembered him for his fight for upliftment of Dalits and deprived people.
Priyanka Gandhi, the party in-charge of UP, also said the "Congress workers should help people in the hour of need."
Gandhi's suggestion to read the Preamble is being seen as an attack on the government as the Congress has accused it of not following the Constitution, especially in case of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and opposed it in and out of Parliament.
She knows the power of Dalit votes in the politics. The Dalits have supported Mayawati since the inception of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). But the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recently made inroads into it with the BSP rebels' help.
The Congress has been trying to revive its 'Dalit, Brahmin and minority' formula to regain the foothold in the state where it has been out of power since 1989.
Rahul Gandhi too paid his tributes. The Congress had issued a circular on Monday to celebrate Ambedkar's birth anniversary. He was born on April 14, 1891.
The Congress had asked all its state, district and block units to celebrate the Ambedkar Jayanti by reaching out to the poor, needy and the marginalised with all possible help in the difficult time of lockdown.
However, it also advised them to adhere to the social distancing norms and safety guidelines while celebrating the Ambedkar Jayanti.
It celebrated the day by garlanding Ambedkar's portrait in Delhi. "Only the Congress believed in the principles of Ambedkar. The other political parties only use his name," said Delhi Congress chief Anil Chaudhary.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid his tributes to the leader before addressing the nation on the lockdown.
( With inputs from IANS )