Quick Take
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A poster morphing Akhilesh Yadav’s face with that of Dr BR Ambedkar has sparked backlash from BJP leaders, who have accused the Samajwadi Party chief of insulting Babasaheb’s legacy.
New Delhi:
This round of the ‘morphed poster wars’ – begun Monday by the Congress and its (now-deleted) ‘gayab‘ X post and to which the BJP added its ‘Pakistan’s yaar‘ jibe Tuesday – has a new entry.
A poster of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav – to half of which an image of Dr BR Ambedkar has been grafted – was widely shared online Wednesday morning and slammed by the BJP, which declared “there can be no greater insult… to the architect of India’s Constitution”.
The poster in question shows half-cutouts of Dr Ambedkar and Mr Yadav’s head and shoulders pasted in close proximity to each other; there is a white line dividing the cutouts.
The graphic is part of a message welcoming people to a party event.
Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and the BJP’s social media big gun, Amit Malviya, are among those to have criticised the ex-Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and his party.
At an event in Delhi Mr Meghwal accused the SP chief of disrespecting Dr Ambedkar, an iconic lawyer and Dalit leader credited with drafting the Constitution and over whose legacy political parties, including the BJP, the Samajwadi Party, and the Congress routinely squabble.
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Mr Meghwal also slammed the Samajwadi Party, an ally of the Congress, for working with a party that “had a role in defeating Babasaheb in the 1952 election”.
VIDEO | Delhi: Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal (@arjunrammeghwal) addresses a press conference.
“A poster of Samajwadi Party shows half face of Babasaheb and remaining half is of Akhilesh Yadav. This is an insult to Babasaheb Ambedkar. They are trying to get votes of Dalits by… pic.twitter.com/zSI6oBnDax
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 30, 2025
“Akhilesh Yadav is the chief of a family party (the reference was to the late SP founder Mulayam Singh, who was Mr Yadav’s father) and Babasaheb was against nepotism. His (Akhilesh Yadav’s) ideologies do not match up with Babasaheb at all,” the Law Minister declared.
READ | Amid Rana Sanga Row, Akhilesh Yadav’s ‘Gaushala‘ Remark
Amit Malviya, meanwhile, taunted Akhilesh Yadav and the SP, saying neither could live up to Dr Ambedkar’s legacy. He also referred to the row over Rana Sanga, a 16th century Rajput king who, Samajwadi Party MP Ramji Lal Suman claimed, invited the Mughals to India.
The BJP had responded furiously. Historians said the claim was a misconception.
“There can be no greater insult to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar… than to distort his face and superimpose Akhilesh Yadav’s face on it. No matter how many times Akhilesh Yadav is reborn…”
भारत के संविधान निर्माता और दलित समुदाय के प्रतीक डॉ. बाबासाहेब अंबेडकर का इससे बड़ा अपमान और कुछ नहीं हो सकता, कि उनके चेहरे को बिगाड़कर उस पर अखिलेश यादव का चेहरा थोप दिया जाए। अखिलेश यादव चाहे कितनी भी बार जन्म लें, वे बाबासाहेब की महानता और समाज के वंचित वर्गों के उत्थान में… pic.twitter.com/sYxS5FOokW
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) April 30, 2025
“… he can never match Babasaheb’s greatness. Samajwadi Party and Akhilesh previously insulted the great warrior Rana Sanga… this is absolutely unacceptable to Hindu society.”
UP Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak also chipped in, labelling the poster “a reflection of SP’s corrupt mentality and a deliberate attempt to insult Babasaheb”.
Neither Akhilesh Yadav nor the SP have responded so far.
The sharp attacks by the BJP underline the tension between it and the SP in the build-up to the 2027 Assembly election. UP has been a BJP bastion since 2017, when Yogi Adityanath led the party to a thumping win. He won again in 2022 but the margin was significantly smaller.
Mr Yadav’s SP is widely seen as a potential (strong) challenger to the BJP in the heartland state, particularly after a surprisingly confident showing in the 2024 federal election, in which his party won 37 of 62 seats it contested, four more than a BJP that lost 29 relative to the last election.
With input from agencies
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