Modi slams Congress for disrespecting Ambedkar

New Delhi, May 10 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hit out at the Congress for "disrespecting" Dalit icon Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar and accused it of preventing the OBC Commission from getting a constitutional status in Parliament.

Interacting with the SC/ST, OBC, Minority and Slum Morchas of the Karnataka BJP through the 'Narendra Modi Mobile App', the Prime Minister said there was no place for Dalits in the hearts of the Congress and asked it to mention a single thing done by it for the betterment of the community.

"There is no place for Dalits in the heart of the Congress. This has been continuing for last many decades. Even the Congress has no respect for Ambedkar. They did everything to defeat him in the 1952 general elections and the bypoll to Bhandara parliamentary constituency in 1953," he said.

He said the Congress humiliated Ambedkar till they were in power. "They did not even confer the Bharat Ratna on him. It was only when Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji formed the government that Babasaheb was conferred the title", he said.

He stated that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was working on developing Panchteerth of Ambedkar. "Taking inspiration from all the great saints, today we are trying to fulfil Babasaheb's dream of a powerful and prosperous nation", Modi remarked.

Attacking the Congress for not letting the OBC Commission get a constitutional status in Parliament, he said they were only involved in vote bank politics and never cared about empowering the weaker sections.

"You will be surprised to know that during the Congress regime, OBC leaders used to demand a constitutional status to OBC Commission but they (Congress) never cared. They only remain involved in vote bank politics... To stop the OBC Commission getting constitutional status, they did not allow the Parliament to function," he said.

Noting that the BJP had the maximum number of MPs from the SC, ST, OBC and minority communities, the Prime Minister said that leaders of various morchas had a paramount role in connecting directly with people and furthering the party's reach. He urged them to further the reach of the party's initiatives among the weaker sections. 

Invoking Ambedkar, social reformer Jyotiba Phule, Sant Kabir and Ravidas's contribution to fight social injustice, Modi said their efforts were inspirational and continued to show his government the way.

During the interaction, Modi also took questions from the BJP leaders and spoke at length about several welfare measures being undertaken to uplift them.

Highlighting several initiatives being undertaken by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, Modi said that in 2015 the government strengthened the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and increased the offences listed in the Act from 22 to 47 to empower the weaker sections.

He said that "Stand up" and "Mudra Yojanas" were helping to make SC/ST, OBC and women financially empowered.

Mentioning several pro-poor schemes launched by his government, Modi spoke about how India was rapidly growing. 

"Today India is the second largest steel manufacturer in the world, second largest mobile phone manufacturer and fourth largest automobile manufacturer," he said, adding that 99 cities are on the verge of becoming smart cities and 500 cities are having a positive impact of the AMRUT scheme.