BJP renaming Ambedkar schools to CM Shri institutes, claims AAP

The AAP on Friday claimed that the BJP government in the Capital is renaming Dr BR Ambedkar Schools of Specialised Excellence to CM Shri Schools, calling it an “insult to Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Dalit community”. Addressing a press conference, AAP Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the BJP of attempting to erase Ambedkar’s legacy.

“When the BJP came to power, they removed Ambedkar’s portraits from government offices. Now, they are erasing his name from schools. This exposes their anti-Ambedkar mindset,” he said. “The AAP government had decided that the offices of the Chief Minister, ministers, Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs), District Magistrates (DMs), Secretaries, Directors and school Principals would display portraits of ‘Babasaheb’ Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and ‘Shaheed-e-Azam’ Bhagat Singh, so that their photos appeared in every official image and video. But in any photograph of CM Rekha Gupta now, Babasaheb’s portrait is nowhere to be seen and only Prime Minister Modi’s picture is visible. This clearly shows their hatred towards Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Dalit community.”

AAP Kondli MLA Kuldeep Kumar, who recently visited a Khichripur school, claimed that new signboards had been put up, but the AAP removed these and restored the original boards with Dr Ambedkar’s name. “The BJP has done no real work in nine months. It has only renamed schemes: mohalla buses as Devi Buses, clinics as Aarogya Mandirs, and now Ambedkar Schools, ” he said.