Legendary music composer Ilaiyaraaja has placed himself at the centre of the ongoing heated debates as his remarks of drawing an analogy between the father of the Indian constitution, Ambedkar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sparked controversy and furious divide on social media as several fans are expressing that they won't admire his remarks while the analogy didn't turn down the love towards him. 

Ilaiyaraaja has written a foreword to the recently launched book titled 'Ambedkar & Modi: Reformer's Ideas, Performer's Implementation'. The book was launched on April 14 during the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti and as per his foreword, Ilaiyaraaja has said that there were parallels between Ambedkar and Modi as both of them saw poverty and stifling social structures from close quarters and worked to dismantle them. 

About the book, the foreword by the maestro said that the book brings out some striking parallels between the personalities of Dr BR Ambedkar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He had penned, "Both these striking personalities succeeded against odds that people from socially disempowered sections face. Both dreamt big for India, but both are also practical men who believe in action rather than mere thought exercises." 

The legendary musician has further turned heads by stating that Ambedkar would have been proud of Prime Minister Modi for his work for the progress of women, including criminalising triple talaq and the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme. By highlighting that the book is an attempt to study the interaction of India's development journey under Prime Minister Modi with the ideals and vision of Dr Ambedkar, Ilaiyaraaja's foreword says that Modi has strengthened the legal safeguards for socially marginalized communities through constitutional protections. 

The foreword says that by building toilets, constructing homes, and opening bank accounts and advocates that the Prime Minister has made efforts to help people from socially disadvantaged communities. Ilaiyaraaja's foreword has swiftly caught nationwide attention and several fans and political leaders and criticised his view of comparing Modi with Dr Ambedkar. DMK Rajya Sabha MP TKS Elangovan said that Modi and Ambedkar cannot be compared. 

The parliamentarian further said that while Ambedkar had worked for the people oppressed by the Varna system, Modi supports Manudharma which was staunchly fought against by Ambedkar. Tirupur Communist MP Subbarayan has asked how the salt can be compared with a diamond. Besides the political leaders, several fans had also expressed their dissents for Illaiyaraaja by reaffirming their love for his music. They demand the musician to take back the comparison and a section of fans had urged him to stay with composing music. 

A Twitter user wrote, "Ilaiyaraaja placing Dr Ambedkar along the same line with Modi is just plain awful and wrong. Stick to making music instead of equating a revolutionary adored by billions to our current PM. Your ignorance is pathetic and disgraceful." It must be noted that the book 'Ambedkar & Modi' was launched by BlueKraft Digital Foundation.