BJP workers hold statewide protest against SP for ‘insulting’ Babasaheb

Lucknow: BJP workers staged demonstrations against the Samajwadi Party, accusing it of "insulting" Dalit icon BR Ambedkar by removing half of his face from his picture and adding the face of former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
In Lucknow, a protest was held in front of the Ambedkar statue located at Atal Chowk, Hazratganj.
UP minister Vijay Laxmi Gautam, State general secretary Govind Narayan Shukla, Rajya Sabha MP Brijlal, Member of the Legislative Council Lal Ji Nirmal, BJP Lucknow Metropolitan president Anand Dwivedi, and district president Vijay Maurya, along with a large number of party officials, public representatives, and workers, took part in the protest. Workers at all other district headquarters protested in front of the statue of Ambedkar. The protest was led by the UP BJP SC Morcha.
UP BJP chief Bhupendra Chaudhary said that Ambedkar struggled all his life for education, equality, and constitutional values.
"But SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, who has been doing only nepotism politics in his entire life, is daring to stand equal to Baba Saheb," he said.
Chaudhary stated that Akhilesh does not know that Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution, belonged neither to any caste nor to any party.
"He was an ideology. Equating Akhilesh with him is a direct insult to the struggle of Dalits and the deprived," he said, adding that while Ambedkar's life was spent in the fight for social justice and rights, Akhilesh's politics was engaged in saving the chair given by his father. "Did the Samajwadi Party ever make any Dalit leader the chief minister? Has the Samajwadi Party handed over the top leadership of the organisation to anyone?" he questioned.
Chaudhary said that Akhilesh removed Ambedkar's name from the institutions named after him during his previous tenure as chief minister.
"This is the same Akhilesh Yadav whose minister Azam Khan publicly called Baba Sahab a land mafia. And he did nothing even while being the CM," he alleged.
The state BJP president said that putting the picture of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on par with that of Ambedkar is not only arrogance but also a condemnable play with the sentiments of the Dalit community.
Minister of state Vijay Laxmi Gautam said that the Samajwadi Party has time and again betrayed the Dalits.
"Now an attempt is being made to deceive Dalits with the image of Baba Saheb. This is political fraud. The public has understood that the politics of SP has been based on Muslim appeasement and caste polarisation," she said.
UP BJP SC Morcha chief Ramchandra Kannaujia said that Akhilesh is now only taking refuge in symbols to do Dalit politics because he has neither policy, nor intention.
Rajya Sabha MP Brijlal said that Dalit society knows that Akhilesh is concerned about only two things, Muslim vote bank and his family's legacy.
"This is the reason why he never gives any Dalit a top position in his power and organisation," Brijlal added.
Legislative Council member Lalji Nirmal said that Akhilesh should publicly apologise for this shameful attempt to insult Baba Sahab.