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

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.

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".