For all these years, Ambedkar was deliberately kept out of the spotlight because his blunt analyses about complex power structures were too dangerous for the upper-caste establishment, which includes not only the BJP but all political parties that have been in existence since Independence, including the Congress. So why are political parties, especially ones like the BJP, which stand for everything Ambedkar opposed, slashing at each other now to declare him as ‘one of their own’? According to political theorist and Ambedkar scholar Ananya Vajpeyi, it’s precisely because he opposed them. But despite his outstanding political career and invaluable contribution to Dalit rights, Ambedkar’s celebrity faded fast, especially when compared to upper-caste nationalist leaders like Gandhi and Nehru. For some Dalits, Ambedkar is an actual prophet who changed the course of their history and future.
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