Congress always hated Ambedkar: Dharmendra Pradhan

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday (December 19) slammed the Congress, alleging it has always hated BR Ambedkar and had even included a cartoon in an NCERT textbook showing Jawaharlal Nehru "whipping" Ambedkar.

He claimed that the "crocodile tears" of the Congress over Ambedkar are just pretence.

"Suddenly the Congress has got a lot of respect for Babasaheb Ambedkar. These crocodile tears of the Congress for Babasaheb are just a pretence, there is a huge difference between their words and actions. The Congress party's hatred and contempt for Babasaheb is well known,” Pradhan wrote in a post on X.

The Union Education Minister said that during the rule of the Congress-led UPA-2 government, a shameful cartoon was included in the NCERT textbook for Class 11 in 2012 in which Pandit Nehru was shown "whipping" Babasaheb Ambedkar.

"After strong opposition from BJP, then Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal apologised and announced to withdraw it.

The Union education minister said, "These corrupt people who give themselves 'Bharat Ratna' have never given proper respect to Babasaheb and when the Honorable Prime Minister Modi Ji is giving a grand honour to Babasaheb Ambedkar Ji, the Congress party is unable to digest it. The Congress party, which makes political gains in the name of Babasaheb Ambedkar, takes his name only out of compulsion, while the truth is that the entire Congress party, from Jawaharlal Nehru to Rahul Gandhi, has always hated Babasaheb," added Pradhan.