File Photo: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi (PTI Photo)
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has reached Mhow, the birthplace of Dr BR Ambedkar --- the architect of India's Constitution around whose work and ideology, struggles of the suppressed classes are centred.
The visit is a prelude to the party's plans to celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of the Dalit icon next year in a grand way and come closer to the community, which was once its votebank.
Mr Gandhi will garland Ambedkar's statue at Mhow, around 25 km from Indore, around 1 pm. In the afternoon, he will address a public meeting and interact with Dalit leaders and activists before returning to Delhi, an AICC statement said.
The state's ruling party, the BJP, has alleged that Mr Gandhi is visiting Dr Ambedkar's birthplace to "mislead" the Dalit community. With 16% of India's voters being Dalits, the two parties are locked in a fierce battle over the Dalit icon's legacy.
Over the weekend, the Narendra Modi government had announced grand plans to commemorate his birth anniversary, which includes setting up a memorial and an international centre in his name.
"The Congress is sending Rahul to Mhow as a part of its conspiracy as it wants to mislead the Dalits," Madhya Pradesh Minister of State for General Administration Lalsingh Arya told reporters.
The senior BJP leader, a Dalit himself, said, "Rahul does not have the moral right to visit the birth place of Dr Ambedkar as Congress has been continuously betraying the Scheduled Caste community since Independence. He has no moral right to spend nights at the huts of the Dalits."
Accusing the Congress of disrespecting Dr Ambedkar, Mr Arya said, "Due to the Congress' conspiracy, Ambedkar couldn't win the Bombay Lok Sabha seat and Bhandara bypoll to Parliament."