IT IS...............INDIFFERENT 457
He thought the Prime Minister had cut a very sorry figure when denying his charges.
“It is a matter of fact though Mr. Nehru has denied it,” Dr. Ambedkar said referring to the Government’s alleged indifference to the Scheduled Castes. The right course for the Prime Minister was to issue a Press Statement detailing what the Government had done for the betterment of the Scheduled Castes and let the people decide whether he was wrong or the Government.
He challenged Mr. Nehru’s claim that Congress alone would be able to form a stable Government in the country. There were many internal differences in the Congress and he cited several instances. “The equation that Mr. Nehru is Congress is not true,” he said.
“Mr. Nehru is living in a dream world. The sooner he realises it, the better.” Dr. Ambedkar asserted, observing that Congressmen had deposed the Congress President, Mr. Tandon, and elected Mr. Nehru in his place only for the sake of the elections.
“Mr. Nehru, who is a naive man, cannot understand this. I am afraid about what his position will be after the elections are over. “Because I am a realist, know better than Mr. Nehru what other Congress leaders think about him.” Dr. Ambedkar declared.
He thought that when the election of the President of the Indian Republic was due, the Prime Minister would have to accept defeat or choose any of his own men from outside Congress.
Dr. Ambedkar told the meeting that when Mr. Rafi Ahmed Kidwai left the Congress, he had told Mr. Kidwai : “Take people like Nehru with you and I am with you.”
Stressing the importance of having a strong opposition Dr. Ambedkar said no party should have unlimited power and it was bad for the people to remain idle and indifferent if that stage of affairs came into being.