Wooing dalits: UP Congress highlights constitution as ‘joint vision’ of Nehru, Ambedkar

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Congress is highlighting the role played by Jawaharlal Nehru in the making of the Constitution as part of their efforts to project it as a product of the ‘joint vision’ of Nehru and Ambedkar. The party is trying to undo the perception allegedly spread by BSP that Ambedkar was the sole visionary behind the Constitution. This seems to be part of the Congress’ strategy to woo the Dalits, especially BSP’s core Jatav support base, ahead of the 2024 polls.

The minority cell of the UP Congress has been carrying out multiple campaigns over the last four months as part of its Dalit outreach. In one of the campaigns titled ‘Jai Jawahar Jai Bheem’, held between August 7 and 13, the party reached out to more than 7 lakh Dalit families with the picture in which BR Ambedkar is seen presenting a copy of the Constitution to the then President Rajendra Prasad in the presence of Nehru, Sardar Patel and Maulana Azad. This was done to remind the community that it was under Nehru’s leadership of the country that the Constitution was framed.

The party wants to consolidate the MuslimDalit votes ahead of the 2024 polls. Speaking to ET, chief of the UP Congress minority cell Shahnawaz Alam said: “Earlier, whenever discussions regarding the Constitution arose, the picture of Babasaheb Ambedkar presenting the copy of the Constitution to Rajendra Prasad in the presence of Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel and Maulana Azad would come to mind. It was through a collective effort that the Constitution was brought into being.