Cong says Rahul denied permission to garland Ambedkar statue

As BSP and Congress play the Dalit card on the birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar, the district authorities here today told Rahul Gandhi that he could garland the Dalit icon's statue only after Mayawati's party function got over.

Congress Legislative Party leader Pramod Tewari said his party had sought written permission from the district administration for 39-year-old Rahul to garland Ambedkar's statue here.

"We had sought written permission but were denied the same," he said.

However, District Magistrate Kunwar Vikram Singh said, "We have not denied permission but we will allow the garlanding of the statue by Congress leaders only after the BSP's function ends here."

The BSP's function here is scheduled from 10 am to 4 pm while the Congress function is planned from 10 am to 2 pm.

Both the Congress and BSP are preparing to play their Dalit card on the 119th birth anniversary of Ambedkar and both the parties have organised functions at a short distance of each other in this district. The Ambedkar statue in question is in the middle of the two places.

Tight security arrangements have been made in the district with the AICC general secretary scheduled to flag off Chetna Yatra (awareness drive) to mark 125 years of party's establishment, and BSP planning to stage a demonstration against "wrong policies" of the UPA government and "short comings" in the Women Reservation bill.

On the directives of Mayawati, a battery of senior leaders, including state cabinet ministers, will stage a demonstration, they said.

Ambedkar Nagar, which has a sizeable Dalit population, holds significance for the BSP as it had been represented by Mayawati thrice in Lok Sabha in 1998, 1999 and 2004.