The Congress’s “anti-Dalit ideology” necessitated the formation of the BSP and the national party never paid due respect to Dalit icon BR Ambedkar, BSP chief Mayawati said on Saturday (14 March 2026), challenging the Congress’s statement that Kanshi Ram would be awarded the Bharat Ratna if it comes to power at the Centre.
In a post in Hindi on X, Ms Mayawati urged party workers to remain vigilant against what she claimed were attempts by other political parties, particularly the Congress, to use the name of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder Kanshi Ram and weaken the BSP.
“Congress never gave due honor to Babasaheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar – dalit messiah and chief architect of the constitution – nor did they ever give him Bharat Ratna… How can the same party now honor Kanshi Ram,” she said in her post.
Her remarks came a day after a motion was passed at the ‘Samvidhan Sammelan’ organized by the Congress in Lucknow, stating that the party will award the Bharat Ratna to Kanshi Ram if he is voted to power.
Kanshi Ram’s birth anniversary will be celebrated on Sunday (March 15).
“This Congress party, when it was in power at the Centre, failed to declare even a single day of national mourning after the death of Kanshi Ram.
“Similarly, the then ruling Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh did not announce state mourning,” Mayawati said.
She alleged that several organizations and political parties claiming to represent the Dalit community – often acting as pawns in the hands of larger political parties – are constantly engaged in using Kanshi Ram’s name for political gains while trying to weaken the BSP.
“Currently, all these parties are using different tactics to undermine and weaken the BSP. Therefore, his (Kanshi Ram’s) followers and supporters must remain vigilant, especially against the Congress, whose anti-Dalit ideology and mindset necessitated the formation of the BSP,” she said.
The BSP supremo also appealed to the party workers to ensure the success of the programs organized across the country, especially Uttar Pradesh, on March 15 on the occasion of Kanshi Ram’s birth anniversary.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that if Jawaharlal Nehru was alive, Kanshi Ram would have been made the Congress chief minister.
Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, died in 1964, while Kanshi Ram emerged on the political scene with the formation of the retro-champion BAMCEF in 1978 and later strengthened his position by forming the BSP in 1984.
Addressing the Samvidhan Sammelan, the Congress leader claimed that Mahatma Gandhi, Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram never compromised on their principles.
“The path we were on, we should have moved at a faster pace. There were lapses on the Congress side,” the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
He said if the Congress had done its job, Kanshi Ram “would not have been successful”.
He added, “If Jawaharlal Nehru was alive, then Kanshi Ram would have been the Congress chief minister.” Later, Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi said that after Gandhi’s speech, a proposal was passed for Congress to award Kanshi Rama Bharat Ratna if voted to power.
In a statement on Saturday (March 14), Ms. Mayawati said, “It has become a new opportunistic way between the rival parties, especially the Congress and the SP, to invoke Kanshi Ram ii exclusively for narrow political goals and electoral vested interests.” The BSP chief said that since the country’s independence till now, the ‘Bahujan Samaj’ has repeatedly tested parties like Congress, BJP and SP but met with “bitter disappointment as these parties changed colors like a chameleon”.
She issued a word of warning to BSP supporters and said, “Listen everyone, but under no circumstances let your unity and the power of your votes fall into the hands of these vote traders. This itself is a true tribute to the lifelong struggles of Babasaheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram ii.”
Published – 14 March 2026 18:25 IST
