Mayawati, Rahul Gandhi in Ambedkar row
Agencies Posted online: Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010 at 1443 hrs
New Delhi : As BSP and Congress play the Dalit card on the birth
anniversary of B R Ambedkar, the district authorities here today told
Rahul Gandhi that he could garland the Dalit icon's statue only after
Mayawati's party function was over.
Congress Legislative Party leader Pramod Tewari said his party had
sought written permission from the district administration for
39-year-old Rahul to garland Ambedkar's statue here.
"We had sought written permission but were denied the same," he said.
However, District Magistrate Kunwar Vikram Singh said, "We have not
denied permission but we will allow the garlanding of the statue by
Congress leaders only after the BSP's function ends here."
The BSP's function here is scheduled from 10 am to 4 pm while the
Congress function is planned from 10 am to 2 pm.
Congress accused BSP of attempting to monopolise Ambedkar's legacy,
saying that it belongs to the entire nation.
"It is very unfortunate. This is trying to monopolise a legacy which
belongs to the entire country. Nobody has exclusive rights on the
memory or the teachings of any national leader. No political party
should try to monopolise the legacy of our national leaders," Party
spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said in New Delhi.
He said the values, teachings and the goodwill generated by Ambedkar
were not the exclusive domain of any one.
UPCC President Rita Bahuguna Joshi complained that the entire
administration was trying to prevent people from coming to Ambedkar
Nagar by diverting the routes.
"I had a fight with the District Magistrate this morning. We have told
them that we have taken enough lying low," she said.
Both the Congress and BSP are preparing to play their Dalit card on
the 119th birth anniversary of Ambedkar and both the parties have
organised functions at a short distance of each other in this
district. The Ambedkar statue in question is in the middle of the two
places.
Tight security arrangements have been made in the district with the
AICC general secretary scheduled to flag off Chetna Yatra (awareness
drive) to mark 125 years of party's establishment, and BSP planning to
stage a demonstration against "wrong policies" of the UPA government
and "short comings" in the Women Reservation bill.
On the directives of Mayawati, a battery of senior leaders, including
state cabinet ministers, will stage a demonstration, they said.
Ambedkar Nagar, which has a sizeable Dalit population, holds
significance for the BSP as it had been represented by Mayawati thrice
in Lok Sabha in 1998, 1999 and 2004. Meanwhile, Rahul, visiting the
district for the second time, is scheduled to flag off 10 vehicles to
cover all the 403 assembly constituencies in the state to form part of
party's Chetna yatra, a senior party leader said, adding he will also
address a rally.
The rath yatras that the Congress will launch from Ambedkarnagar will
constitute the most ambitious exercise the party has ever undertaken
to capture UP's political mindspace. The 10 yatras will be spread out
over 103 days, and each will last 90 days. Between them, they will
reach every one of the state's 403 Assembly constituencies.
To ensure the success of the programme, senior party leaders,
including Rita Bahuguna Joshi, are already camping in the area.
"The party has mobilised workers from adjoining districts, including
Barabanki, Gonda, Faizabad, Azamgarh and Basti, for the function,"
party sources had said.
"Four companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) have been
dispatched to the district from DGP headquarters," Additional Director
General of Police Brij Lal had said yesterday, adding that IG Faizabad
has been asked to arrange additional force.
The sources had said that two additional SPs, five deputy SPs, 40
sub-inspectors, 50 head constables and 150 constables from the
adjoining districts would also be deployed.
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