Ambedkar row: Cracks widen in INDIA bloc as Trinamool skips Congress protest outside Parliament

Opposition MPs including Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi hold protest-ANI

The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday refused to join the  Congress's protest on Ambedkar row in Parliament.

Opposition MPs, including Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi, held a protest against Union Home Minister Amit Shah's speech in the Rajya Sabha during the Constitution debate.

#WATCH | Delhi: Opposition MPs including Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi hold a protest against Union Home Minister Amit Shah's speech in the Rajya Sabha during the Constitution debate yesterday.MPs allege Union HM insulted Dr BR Ambedkar in his speech yesterday. pic.twitter.com/xf2z1ju3F4
ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2024

Addressing the House during the debate to mark 75 years of the Constitution,  Shah said taking Ambedkar's name had become a "fashion" now. "Abhi ek fashion ho gaya hai - Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. Itna naam agar bhagwan ka lete to saat janmon tak swarg mil jata (It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar'. If they took God's name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven)," he said.

His remarks sparked a huge row, with leaders of the Congress and other Opposition parties accusing Shah of insulting the Dalit icon.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said Shah's "insult" of Ambedkar has again proved that the BJP and its ideological parent RSS were "against the Tricolour" and "opposed the Ashok Chakra".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday responded to the opposition's protest saying the Congress played dirty tricks to obliterate the legacy of the Dalit icon. “If the Congress and its rotten ecosystem think their malicious lies can hide their misdeeds of several years, especially their insult towards Dr. Ambedkar, they are gravely mistaken!” he posted on X.