Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in his Republic Day address in Dibrugarh, once again raised the issue of BR Ambedkar and claimed that India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had inspired him to follow the Constitution. Was kept out of the Constituent Assembly which prepared the draft. Sarma made this claim while emphasizing on the challenges faced by Dr. Ambedkar while drafting the Constitution.
What did the CM of Assam say?
The Chief Minister said, “Babasaheb Ambedkar is the founder of our Constitution. He had to face many challenges to join the Constituent Assembly. His name was not in the first list of members of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the Constitution.” He said, Jogendranath Mandal, a Dalit leader from East Bengal, proposed Dr. Ambedkar’s name in his place and only then he got the opportunity to be a part of this historic work. He said, “Today I am reminded of a statement by Pandit Nehru regarding the inclusion of Ambedkar. Nehru had claimed that Ambedkar was a confrontational person and that is why he wanted to keep him out of the Constituent Assembly.”
The Chief Minister further claimed that Ambedkar was included because Mahatma Gandhi recognized and trusted his ability and stood against the stand taken by Nehru. He said, “This decision of Gandhi proved fruitful by the Constituent Assembly led by Ambedkar, who gave us a Constitution based on equality and fraternity.”
Congress’s answer
The Chief Minister’s statement has drawn a sharp reaction from the Congress. Leader of Opposition in the Assam Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, condemned it and alleged that it was an attempt to defame Babasaheb Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru by distorting the truth. He said, “Initially Ambedkar was elected to the Constituent Assembly from Bengal, but after partition his constituency went to Pakistan and he had to vacate his seat. It was Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel who came to discuss it. Went to Gandhiji for this. After this, Ambedkar was offered a seat in the Constituent Assembly by vacating a seat from Pune.