Didn't give Bharat Ratna to BR Ambedkar, how will Cong honour Kanshi Ram, Mayawati questions Rahul

The fight for the Dalit vote in Uttar Pradesh took a fresh turn on Saturday as BSP chief Mayawati questioned the Congress for what she described as the grand old party's new-found love for late Dalit icon Kanshi Ram.

"As is well known, the Congress party, during its many years in power at the Centre, never accorded due respect and honour to the messiah of Dalits and the chief architect of the Indian Constitution, the most revered Baba Saheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, nor did it bestow upon him the title of ‘Bharat Ratna’. So how can this party now honour respected Shri Kanshiram Ji with this title?" questioned UP's first Dalit Chief Minister Mayawati. The poser comes a day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in Lucknow that had Jawaharlal Nehru been alive, he would have made Kanshi Ram the CM of Uttar Pradesh.

Mayawati said neither the Congress party, while in power at the Centre, declared a single day of national mourning upon the passing of Kanshi Ram nor did the SP government in UP at that time declare any state mourning.

"Similarly, numerous organisations and parties formed by the Dalit community, which have fallen into the hands of other parties, are always engaged in exploiting his name for their gain.

Now, all these parties are constantly employing all sorts of tactics to weaken the BSP founded by Kanshi Ram. Therefore, his followers and supporters must always remain vigilant against them," the BSP chief warned.

She asked her supporters in the community to especially be cautious of the Congress.

"Due to the Congress' anti-Dalit mindset and mentality, the BSP had to be created in the first place," she said.

The BSP has announced a series of programmes on the occasion of Kanshi Ram's birth anniversary on March 15, and asked party members to ensure the success of all programmes of the party that he had founded.