Congress to amp up pressure on Amit Shah with ‘Ambedkar week’, protest marches, and a mega rally

“On December 24, all across the country, we will hold Babasaheb Ambedkar Samman marches and submit a memorandum to the President of India through district collectors demanding Amit Shah’s resignation,” Venugopal said.

“All INC Workers will garland Babsaheb’s statue, hold his giant portrait at the front of the march and carry huge placards with our key demands,” the Congress leader said in a post on X.

He also announced that on December 26-27, the party will hold an extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) session and a mega rally in Belagavi where it “will reiterate our commitment to Dr. Ambedkar and his ideals”.

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.

Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters on Saturday afternoon, Congress media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said that the “dreams of the BJP to change the Constitution were shattered” as they could not get 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections this year. “All of us shattered those dreams. Amit Shah and Narendra Modi can’t handle that and are frustrated,” he added.

Talking of the programme in Belagavi on December 26 and 27, Khera said, “As you know, on December 26, 1924, Mahatma Gandhi had become the party president at a Congress convention. It is an important day and 100 years have been completed. During the convention in 1924, the Congress had decided the direction of the freedom struggle and the party – satyagraha, swarajya. These words became part of our country’s daily language. On December 26, there will be an extended CWC and the next day, there will be a large rally. We will also discuss the short- and medium-term action plan of the Congress. And the decisions will be shared with you.”