File Photo: Dr BR Ambedkar.
On the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of BR Ambedkar, the chief architect of India's Constitution, the BJP and the Congress are engaged in a fierce battle over his legacy.
On Tuesday, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will join in the battle when he visits Mhow in Madhya Pradesh, the birthplace of Bhimrao Ambedkar, to kick off his party's plans to celebrate the Dalit icon's anniversary.
On Saturday, the Narendra Modi government had announced grand plans to commemorate Mr Ambedkar's birth anniversary, including the setting up of an Ambedkar memorial and an international centre.
Within hours, the Congress released its own agenda.
Left leader Sitaram Yechury had already written to the government to convene a special session of Parliament in memory of Mr Ambedkar.
Behind the competitive politics, there is some careful political calculation. With 16 per cent of India's population identified as Dalits, national parties are looking to use the occasion to reach out to the community.
In the Hindi heartland of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where Dalits comprise nearly 20 per cent of the population, securing the community's support would help the BJP shed its image of being a party of the forward castes.
For the Congress, it is an attempt to woo back sections of the Dalit community who have deserted the party in the recent past. "Everything should not be looked through the prism of Dalit votes," said senior Congress leader Ajay Maken.
"Everybody knows how the Congress party treated Ambedkar," countered union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, pointing out that leaders outside the Nehru-Gandhi family were overshadowed during successive Congress governments.
But the BJP-led government is keen to associate itself with, if not appropriate, Mr Ambedkar's legacy. The government has already formed a committee to plan celebrations for the leader's 125th birth anniversary.
Interestingly, the government has nominated Dr Narendra Jadhav, a well-known scholar on BR Ambedkar, to the committee. Mr Jadhav had earlier been a member of the Planning Commission and the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council.
"I see my job as a continuity in change," Mr Jadhav told NDTV adding, "I don't see any problem in political calculation for votes but Dr Ambedkar shouldn't be seen just as a Dalit icon. He was the nation's social conscience keeper and national icon."