Congress to campaign for installation of Ambedkar statue in Gwalior Bench premises

The Hindu

5 hours ago

The Congress in Madhya Pradesh said on Tuesday (June 17, 2025) that it was going to launch a three-day campaign for the installation of a statue of B.R. Ambedkar in the premises of the Gwalior Bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court, with party leaders alleging that 'hurdles' were being created by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The announcement was made at a joint press conference held in Bhopal by senior State Congress leaders, who alleged that a campaign was being run by the BJP and RSS in Gwalior to portray B. N. Rau, advisor to the Constituent Assembly, as the main architect of the Constitution.
'In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP and RSS are conspiring to insult Babasaheb [Ambedkar]. In Gwalior, through posters, it is being propagated that Babasaheb was not the creator of the Constitution. Congress will run a massive public awareness campaign in honour of Babasaheb and the Constitution,' Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari said, showing a poster featuring pictures of Rau with the first President of India, Rajendra Prasad, issued by a local outfit in Gwalior.
The three-day campaign, from June 23 to 25, will see a door-to-door public outreach, a community discussion on the Constitution over a meal in localities with marginalised communities, and a day-long fast and sit-in in Gwalior by senior Congress leaders.
Congress general secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh Harish Chaudhary claimed that the contribution of Ambedkar was being questioned under a 'well-planned conspiracy starting from the RSS headquarters in Nagpur'.
'The Congress will strongly put forward its point among the public on this issue and will protect the honour of Babasaheb,' Mr. Chaudhary said.
Rajya Sabha member and former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh said that Rau was only an advisor and not a member of the Constituent Assembly.
'The decision to make Babasaheb the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly was taken on the advice of [Mahatma] Gandhi-ji, so that the oppressed class is represented. It is wrong to deny Babasaheb's contribution in his [Rau's] name,' Mr. Singh said.
BJP State president and Lok Sabha member V.D. Sharma, however, denied the charges, and accused the Congress leaders of 'spreading lies and fuelling a class conflict' in Madhya Pradesh for their political interests.
'The Nehru-Gandhi family and the Congress leaders who have insulted Babasaheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar from time to time should [observe a] fast, and run an unconditional public apology campaign,' Mr. Sharma said, taking a dig at the Congress's campaign.
'Congress's thinking has always been anti-Ambedkar. Even today the Congress party and (Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha) Rahul Gandhi are working on the anti-Dr. Ambedkar ideology,' the BJP leader added.
The controversy over the installation of Ambedkar's statue at the Gwalior Bench premises has taken wing in the region since February, with different factions and viewpoints at loggerheads.
In the past two months, two groups of lawyers have also come face-to-face on various occasions, leading to brief clashes over the issue, while both sides are currently running separate campaigns with their demands.
Apart from the Congress, political leaders, including former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, and Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) MP Chandra Shekhar Azad have also expressed their support for the installation of the statue.