In his inaugural lecture on the occasion of Babasaheb Ambedkar Centenary Celebrations in 1991, legal scholar Upendra Baxi said: “Ambedkar remains a totally forgotten figure.” The academia and the mainstream institutions had marginalized Ambedkar for decades. The V.P.Singh-led non-Congress government at the Centre, which implemented the Mandal Commission, suddenly resurrected Ambedkar with the centenary celebrations, and bestowed him with ‘Bharat Ratna’. This belated recognition was prompted by the rise and consolidation of Dalit movement in the 1980s and 1990s. In the celebrations and conferences that followed, Ambedkar was reified as a leader of the Scheduled Castes and also a constitutionalist.