Overview
- On March 15, Rahul Gandhi sent a formal letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting a posthumous Bharat Ratna for BSP founder Kanshi Ram.
- The letter followed a Congress Samvidhan Sammelan in Lucknow where a resolution backed the honour and Gandhi said Jawaharlal Nehru would have made Kanshi Ram a Congress chief minister.
- BSP chief Mayawati accused the Congress of exploiting Kanshi Ram’s name and called it anti-Dalit, yet she also urged the Centre to confer the Bharat Ratna on him without delay.
- Leaders from the Samajwadi Party and the BJP issued sharp reactions to Gandhi’s remarks, underscoring a broader dispute over representation and Kanshi Ram’s legacy.
- Parties are intensifying Dalit outreach in Uttar Pradesh, where Dalits constitute roughly one-fifth of voters and the BSP’s decline has opened space for rivals to court Bahujan support.