Mayawati hits out at BJP, Cong over disrespect to Ambedkar

Lucknow, Dec 20 (PTI) Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Friday hit out at the BJP and other opposition parties, saying they are "two sides of the same coin in not respecting Baba Saheb Ambedkar".

Lucknow, Dec 20 (PTI) Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Friday hit out at the BJP and other opposition parties, saying they are "two sides of the same coin in not respecting Baba Saheb Ambedkar".

"The words used by BJP's Amit Shah in Parliament about the messiah of Dalits and other neglected classes, Param Pujya Baba Saheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, has deeply hurt the sentiments of these classes. In such a situation, he should definitely repent by taking back those words," Mayawati said in a post on 'X' in Hindi.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister's assertion comes amid the ongoing tussle between the ruling BJP and the opposition parties over Union Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks on Ambedkar in the Rajya Sabha earlier this week.

"By the way, it is impossible to deny that the social, economic and political conditions of the Congress, BJP and their allies are constantly getting worse due to their narrow-minded and casteist attitude towards the interests and welfare of Baba Saheb Dr Ambedkar and his crores of Dalit-backward, exploited-oppressed followers," Mayawati said in another post.

"These parties are two sides of the same coin in not respecting Baba Saheb Dr Ambedkar from the heart and committing injustice and atrocities against his followers and snatching away their constitutional and legal rights," she added.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief said "the ongoing conflict between the ruling party and the opposition on this issue is only vote-bank politics".

"Along with this, cheap politics of show-off like waving the Constitution everywhere and wearing blue colour etc. Before doing all this, both the ruling party and the opposition will have to cleanse their hearts of the darkness of narrow-mindedness, casteism and hatred, only then will the true welfare of these sections and the country be possible," Mayawati said in another post.

Shah later on Wednesday held a press conference and justified his point.

He accused the Congress of twisting facts and distorting his comments in the Rajya Sabha related to Ambedkar after the BJP leaders "exposed" the opposition party's repeated "insults" to the architect of the Constitution.