3 min readLucknowApr 13, 2026 05:50 AM IST
As the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Sunday continued his attack on the BJP and accused the ruling party of destroying the ideas of Dr BR Ambedkar and the Constitution, the BJP is going to challenge Gandhi in his Lok Sabha constituency of Raebareli.
On the eve of Ambedkar’s birth anniversary, state BJP chief Pankaj Chaudhary on Monday will unveil a statue of the chief architect of the Constitution in the Scheduled Caste-reserved Bachhrawan Assembly segment of Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency.
Former MLA Ram Lal Akela is organising the event. The former SP MLA had joined the BJP ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections.
Later in the evening, Chaudhary will lead the lighting of 11,000 earthen lamps at the Ambedkar statue in the Hazratganj area of Lucknow in honour of the Dalit icon.
With all the political parties making grand preparations to celebrate the birth anniversary of Ambedkar on April 14, the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will be organising programmes in all the districts to pay tribute to him in their bid to woo Dalit voters.
Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi hit out at the BJP while flagging off the ‘Run for Ambedkar, Run for the Constitution’ marathon in New Delhi. Addressing the participants, Gandhi said that Dr Ambedkar’s message was the message of the Constitution, and if the Constitution was not there, the country would not exist in its present form.
Gandhi also said that people with the ideology of the RSS and the BJP want to destroy the ideas of Ambedkar and the Constitution of India. “Whatever they say or do, their ultimate aim is to finish off the Constitution”, he said, adding, “They don’t want that everyone should be treated at par in India”.
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“Even when they bow before the statue of Dr Ambedkar, their ultimate aim remains the same – to destroy the Constitution,” the Congress leader said, adding, “Our aim is to protect and strengthen the Constitution, its ideals and its message”.
The Scheduled Caste department of the Congress organised the marathon where Gandhi wore a blue T-shirt and a blue scarf with the message of “Jai Bhim, Jai Bharat”.
In the past five Assembly elections in UP, the BJP and Congress have won the Bachhrawan seat once each, whereas the SP has won the seat three times – 2022, 2012, and 2002. The BJP had won from the seat in 2017 and Congress in 2007.
