Ambedkar Jayanti & legacy belongs to the country: Grandson

Prakash Ambedkar, leader of the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) and grandson of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar said the legacy of Dr Ambedkar belonged to the entire country and that no faction of RPI could lay sole claim to it. " We don't need to throw stones at people's homes to prove that we are popular," said an introspective Ambedkar as he spoke to us about the current developments in the State's Dalit politics on the eve of Ambedkar Jayanti.

Appreciating Anna Hazare's recent campaign for the Lokpal Bill, Ambedkar said, "While the campaign was hugely successful and received wide spread support, the Lokpal Bill was a mechanism to deal with post- corruption issues while the real change would happen when corruption is prevented in the first place." Further pointing to the fact that the poor and the downtrodden bore the brunt of corruption, Prakash said, " The focus needs to be on the causes and not the treatment and only the will there be real change." On Anupam Kher's alleged remarks on the Constitution, Prakash said, "It is easy to criticise things. If Kher has a problem, he should provide a solution.

Standing at Jantar Mantar for a few days is easy, but studying the Constitution is not."Coming down heavily on the Ramdas Athavale-led Republican Party of India (RPI-A) for attacking Kher's house, he condemned the attack. "It is unconstitutional and purely a publicity seeking gimmick. Those claiming to carry forward Babasaheb's legacy don't know the very virtues that he preached," retorted Prakash.

Stressing the need to end factionalism within the Dalit polity, which is hampering the development of Dalits, Prakash spoke of creating an alternative front of Dalit groups. " We need to fight a united battle but at the same time we can't compromise on our core agenda." Asked if other Dalit factions were more vocal, popular and walking away with Babashaeb's legacy, Prakash retorted that nuisance value did not determine popularity. " We (BBM) have the most number of elected representatives in the State and in a democracy it is the people's mandate that matters, not TRPs," said Prakash, adding that, “ We will go full throttle in the local body polls and the results will speak louder than any one's slogans.”