Cong gave away Hindu-majority areas where Ambedkar won to Pakistan: Joshi

Bengaluru: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, on Friday, launched a scathing attack on the Congress, saying the party had insulted B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, at every step. He alleged that Congress gave away constituencies with a Hindu majority, where Ambedkar had won, to Pakistan as part of its malicious strategy. Now, the party is shedding crocodile tears to woo Dalit votes, he added.

Speaking at the inauguration of the “Bheem Hejje” centenary celebration in Bengaluru, Union Minister Joshi accused the Congress of deliberately undermining Ambedkar’s electoral victories. “Bheem Hejje” event marks Ambedkar’s speech at a 1925 conference of the Hitakarini Sabha in Nippani town of Belagavi district in Karnataka.He claimed that the constituencies of Jessore, Khulna, and Haridpur -- where Ambedkar had support -- were handed over to Pakistan. He said that Congress has continuously disrespected Ambedkar from the pre-Independence era to the present. The current Congress government in Karnataka not celebrating the centenary of Bheem Hejje is another example of this ongoing disregard, he added.

According to Union Minister Joshi, when Ambedkar tried to enter the Constituent Assembly through elections, Congress defeated him twice through conspiracies.

The Union Minister said that Ambedkar finally got elected from Bengal on the insistence of Dalit leader Jogendranath Mandal, but even then, Congress couldn’t tolerate his win and ensured the Hindu-majority constituencies he won were ceded to Pakistan. In the first Lok Sabha election in 1952, when Ambedkar contested from Mumbai North, Congress allegedly fielded their close party aide to defeat him, he added. Prime Minister late Jawahar Lal Nehru himself campaigned against Ambedkar, Union Minister Joshi said.Ambedkar was again defeated in the 1954 Bhandara by-election, he added. The same Congress party that awarded a Padma Bhushan to Narayan Kajrolkar -- who defeated Ambedkar -- denied him the Bharat Ratna award, the Union Minister said.