Mayawati demands Bharat Ratna for Kanshi Ram

LUCKNOW: A day after the Modi government conferred Bharat Ratna on socialist icon Karpoori Thakur, BSP national president Mayawati on Wednesday demanded the country’s top civilian honour for party founder and Dalit leader Kanshi Ram. She said it would fulfil the wish of crores of Kanshi Ram’s followers.
In a series of posts on ‘X’ on Wednesday, Mayawati welcomed the Bharat Ratna for Karpoori Thakur.Paying tributes to Thakur on his 100th birth anniversary, she said, “The decision of the central government to confer Bharat Ratna on Karpoori Thakur, who had twice been the CM of Bihar, though has come late, but is welcomed.” She also congratulated Thakur’s family and followers.
She equated the contribution of Thakur and Kanshi Ram in the social and economic uplift of the underprivileged classes. Thakur, she said, struggled all his life to help the most backwards get their constitutional rights, equality of life and social justice. “Similarly, the contribution made by BSP founder Kanshi Ramji in letting Dalits and other neglected sections of people live their lives with self-respect and stand on their feet is historic and unforgettable,” she added.
This was not the first occasion when Mayawati demanded Bharat Ratna for Dalit icons. She has often raised it in her public meetings and even alleged that central governments have ignored her frequent appeals. The BSP chief had accused the Congress of not conferring the top honour on Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar despite being in power for decades owing to its casteist mindset. Ambedkar was finally given Bharat Ratna posthumously by VP Singh government because of BSP’s efforts, she had stated.