Cong did not do justice to Ambedkar: Advani

Referring to the Bharat Ratna, awarded to Ambedkar in 1990, Advani said, at that time, it was not the Congress government in the Centre

BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani today said Congress did not do justice to Dalit icon Bhim Rao Ambedkar and ignored the late leader while nominating the members for the Constituent Assembly.

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“I believe, Congress did not do justice to Dr Ambedkar,” Advani said in a function to celebrate birth anniversary of the Dalit leader here.

"Today, we know that he was the maker of the Constitution. But this did not happen naturally. When Congress nominated around 290 members for the Constituent Assembly, his name was not there," Advani said.

Taking on the Congress for the episode, Advani said that when a leader from Bengal saw that his (Ambedkar’s) name was not there in the list, he offered his seat.

"He was then elected from Bengal and reached the Constituent Assembly," Advani said.

The saffron party leader said that Congress could have sent Ambedkar to the Lok Sabha but did not do so.

Referring to the Bharat Ratna, awarded to Ambedkar in 1990, Advani said, at that time, it was not the Congress government in the Centre.

"Even we were not in power. It was the V P Singh Government, which was formed on our support, which gave Bharat Ratna to him," the BJP leader said.