Mayawati hits back at PM Modi over remarks on BR Ambedkar

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Thursday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for saying that her party had abandoned the ideals of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar.

The Prime Minister’s remarks

Modi made the comments on Wednesday at a rally on the border of Ambedkar Nagar and Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, where he accused the SP and the BSP of forgetting the principles of Ambedkar and Ram Manohar Lohia. He said Mayawati had used Ambedkar’s name but acted against his ideals, and that the SP had invoked Lohia while wrecking law and order in the state.

Mayawati’s response

Responding, Mayawati said that for the BJP, the Congress and other parties, Ambedkar might be useful for vote politics, but for the BSP he was “the soul”. The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, whose party has allied with its former rival the SP and with the RLD, also accused the BJP of playing the Masood Azhar card to win votes.

She said it was an earlier BJP government that had freed the Jaish-e-Mohammad chief, and called it condemnable that the party was now seeking votes in his name.

Azhar listing

On Wednesday night the United Nations Security Council listed Azhar as a global terrorist under its 1267 sanctions list after China lifted its technical hold on a proposal moved by the US, France and the UK.

The listing was seen as a major diplomatic success for India, which had long pressed for the man it holds responsible for attacks on Parliament in 2001, on Pathankot and Uri in 2016 and at Pulwama this year to be placed on the list. India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Syed Akbaruddin, said the first attempt had been made in 2009 and that India had persisted quietly until the goal was achieved.

See also: Bahujan Samaj Party.

Originally published on 2 May 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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