Row over UP move to add ‘Ramji’ to Ambedkar’s name

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh’s Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government’s decision to introduce ‘Ramji’ as the middle name of Bhimrao Ambedkar in all official correspondence and records has sparked a political controversy with the Opposition as well as one of the ruling party’s own MPS, questioning the move.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said on Thursday that instead of altering Ambedkar’s name, it was important that the BJP government followed the path he showed.

Yadav’s colleague Anurag Bhadoria said the BJP was “playing politics with the name of the Dalit icon to attract votes.”

The move follows UP governor Ram Naik first drawing chief minister Adityanath’s attention towards the matter in December last year. The state government finally issued an order in this regard on Wednesday, directing all departments to use the full name of the leader in all official correspondence and records.

Raising question over the decision, BJP MP Udit Raj said that it would create unnecessary controversy. Speaking to a news agency, Raj, a Dalit leader himself, said, “I don’t find any reason to change his name, it’s an individual’s freedom to decide how he wants to be known. Why create a controversy unnecessarily?” UP cabinet minister Swami Prasad Maurya, however, said there was no politics in the decision and no ulterior motive should be seen in it. Another Dalit leader, Lalji Nirmal, welcomed the government’s decision and said it should also be looked into as to why Ambedkar’s name was improperly used for so many years. “Why wasn’t the middle name of Ambedkar was not in use for so many years even though he signed as ‘Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar’ on the first copy of the Constitution? This should be probed,” said Nirmal, president, Ambedkar Mahasabha. Ramji was the name of Bhimrao Ambedkar’s father.