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‘Insult of Babasaheb’: BJP replaces Ambedkar’s image with George Soros’s, draws flak from Congress

The BJP and the Opposition have been slugging it out over Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s alleged remark against Dr B R Ambedkar in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

INDIA bloc leaders during a protest in Parliament on Wednesday. (Photo: ANI)

A day after the Opposition demanded Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s “removal” from the Cabinet, accusing him of “insulting” Dr B R Ambedkar in his remarks in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, a fresh row erupted on Thursday over a social media post by the BJP, with the Congress saying the party has once again insulted Ambedkar.

In a post on X, the BJP’s official handle used a photo of INDIA bloc MPs protesting with photos of Ambedkar and replaced it with photos of Hungarian-American hedge fund manager-turned-philanthropist George Soros inside the Parliament complex. The photo had the caption: “Hello, Congress and INDI alliance. We fixed the image for you. You’re welcome.”

In a statement, Congress MP from Wayanad Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, “After insulting Babasaheb in the House, today again the BJP has insulted him. They tampered with his photo and imposed someone else’s photo on his. This is the same thinking that damages Ambedkar’s statues at different places. This is an insult of Babasaheb, and an insult of the architect of the Constitution.”

Hello, Congress and INDI alliance.

We fixed the image for you.

You’re welcome. pic.twitter.com/GgrjdidnqK

— BJP (@BJP4India) December 18, 2024

On Wednesday, the Opposition, cutting across party lines, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack Shah “before midnight”. Opposition parties also raised the issue in both Houses of Parliament and staged protests outside, displaying Ambedkar’s photographs and raising slogans like, “Amit Shah maafi maango; Babasaheb ka apmaan, nahin sahega Hindustan (Amit Shah, apologise; India will not tolerate Babasaheb’s insult).”

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Replying to the two-day debate in Rajya Sabha on the ‘Glorious Journey of 75 Years of the Constitution of India’, Shah had said on Tuesday: “Abhi ek fashion ho gaya hai — Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar… Itna naam agar Bhagwan ka lete toh saat janmon tak swarg mil jata (There is a fashion these days — Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar… Had you chanted the name of God these many times, you would have been blessed with heaven in seven births).” He went on to add, “we are happy that Ambedkar’s name is being taken”, before listing the Congress’s “injustices” towards him.

Reacting to the row, PM Modi had said in a series of posts on X: “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! The people of India have seen time and again how one Party, led by one dynasty, has indulged in every possible dirty trick to obliterate the legacy of Dr. Ambedkar and humiliate the SC/ST communities..”.

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