New Delhi: The BJP will launch a fortnight-long campaign to celebrate the Constitution and spread awareness about its values and the role of its architect, B R Ambedkar, in the run-up to the Republic Day on January 26, official sources said on Friday.
The drive marks the stepping up of the ruling party’s counter-campaign to project itself as a champion of the Constitution, following opposition parties’ relentless attacks on it for its alleged attempts to weaken the values of the country’s guiding document.
Sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the nationwide campaign — “Samvidhan Gaurav Abhiyan” — will be launched on January 11, with a focus on districts with a significant population of the Scheduled Castes (SCs).
The party has deployed three of its national general secretaries — Vinod Tawde, Tarun Chugh and Dushyant Kumar Gautam — to spearhead the campaign, with Tawde named as its convenor.
The BJP will organise programmes in all state capitals and other cities, at least 50 in total, besides holding numerous local-level exercises, the sources said.
Different wings of the party will also reach out to students to highlight the constitutional values, they added.
The party’s communication on the campaign marks out districts with a considerable SC population for a special focus.
The INDIA opposition bloc had focused on the BJP’s alleged attempts to weaken the Constitution during the Lok Sabha poll campaign last year, a theme that struck a chord with a section of the voters, leading to the ruling party suffering some unexpected losses in a few states and losing its majority in the Lower House of Parliament.
However, with its allies, the saffron party secured a comfortable majority.
The Winter Session of Parliament saw a debate on India’s constitutional journey, during which the Congress and other opposition parties seized on a part of Home Minister Amit Shah’s speech to accuse him of insulting Ambedkar.
Shah accused the opposition parties of distorting his speech, with the BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting that it is the Congress that has repeatedly insulted Ambedkar.
BJP leaders will be highlighting Ambedkar’s contributions during the campaign as well, the sources said.
The Modi government has also launched a campaign to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution on January 26 under the tagline — “hamara samvidhan, hamara swabhiman”.
