"This is their mentality of insulting Baba Saheb" Arjun Ram Meghwal asks Congress to clear stand on Nehru-Ambedkar remarks
Jan 27, 2024
Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], January 27 : Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal slammed the Congress Party after Sam Pitroda quoted the statements made by political activist Sudheendra Kulkarni, that "Nehru contributed more to the Constitution and not Ambedkar" and said that it shows the "mentality of the grand old party of insulting Baba Saheb".
Meghwal, while speaking to ANI 'condemned' the statement and asked the Congress to clear its stand on Pitroda.
"We condemn this statement by Sam Pitroda and we want to ask Congress whether they stand by the comment of Sam Pitroda... The whole nation knows that Ambedkar played a major role in the making of the Constitution..." Meghwal said.
The union minister further alleged the Congress of 'insulting' BR Ambedkar.
"I think, this is the mentality of Congress to insult Baba Saheb. I want to take you back in the history. In the 1952 elections, Congress fielded its candidate against Baba Saheb and made him lose the elections. They (Congress) insulted him. In 1953-54 polls too, they repeated the same. Congress prevented Baba Saheb two times in Lok Sabha polls," he added.
After India became independent in 1947, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru formed the first Union Cabinet with 15 members picked from a wide range of communities, with Ambedkar as the Union Law Minister.
The first general elections were held between October 1951 and February 1952, with Ambedkar contesting from Bombay North Central. Ambedkar was supported by the Socialist Party led by Ashok Mehta but lost to the Congress's Narayan Sadoba Kajrolkar by 15,000 votes.
This first general election was a dual-member constituency, where a general candidate and a Scheduled caste and/or Scheduled Tribe candidates would contest from a seat, a practice prevalent in the country till 1961.
Ambedkar subsequently contested a bypoll in 1954 from the Bhandara constituency, also in Maharashtra. He lost to the Congress again by about 8,500 votes.
Notably, Sam Pitroda later deleted his tweet in which he endorsed Sudheendra Kulkarni's views.
Earlier, in a post on X, Sudheendra Kulkarni said, "A lie [that Dr BR Ambedkar is the 'Father of the Indian Constitution'] can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes." Nehru's contribution to the Constitution is greater than Ambedkar's."
"Who Contributed More to the Constitution and Its Preamble? Nehru, NOT Ambedkar "Babasaheb ka diya hua Samvidhan--Dr Ambedkar is the Father of the Indian Constitution" is the biggest falsification of our country's modern history," Kulkarni said in another post.
Political activist Sudheendra Kulkarni said that his views about Nehru and Ambedkar should not be used by parties for their own political gains since he is not involved in politics.
"I have great respect for Baba Saheb. He struggled a lot to work for an equal society. What I say should not be used for political agendas, as I am not a political activist. Those who read history will understand what I am trying to say. Congress was at the forefront of the struggle for independence. Nehruji was thinking about the Constitution since 1930," Kulkarni said.
He also said that the question of apologising for his statement doesn't arise. Meanwhile, BSP MP Malook Nagar also said that the grand old party should apologise to the nation and clarify whether Pitroda's stand is personal or on behalf of the Congress.
"How can one be spared if he targets Babasaheb Ambedkar, an ideal for the marginalised communities of India? I cannot understand what has happened to Congress. On one hand, they became Hindus when it came to elections, while on the other, they refused to visit the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Congress leadership should apologise to the nation and clarify whether Sam Pitroda's stand is personal or on behalf of the Congress," Malook Nagar told ANI.