New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s prime ministerial candidate LK Advani may be involved in a vicious war of words but on the occasion of Dr BR Ambedkar’s birth centenary they came together. The hatchet may not have been buried but the message was clear – both looked at themselves as the deserving candidates of the Dalit.
Advani even went to the extent of flagging off a rath for creating Dalit awareness, hoping for similar results as his famous Ram Rath he rode in the 90s.
“The Congress has never been fair to Dr Ambedkar,” said Advani.
Just an hour after this function, the Congress and the BJP were fighting again. This time it was over Advani's attempts to show the Congress not really being concerned about Dalit welfare.
“BJP misused the occasion of Dr Ambedkar’s centenary. How does Advani know what Nehru and Ambedkar discussed, was he present there or they left some secrets for him,” said Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma.
Battle for Dalit votes is nothing new in the country but there is a difference this time around. With Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati claiming to be the sole inheritor of the Dalit vote, all parties will be forced to play catch up.
