In Ambedkar, divided Opposition finds a common rallying cry

Around the same time, the Trinamool Congress posted on one of its WhatsApp groups a tweet by Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi leader and Ambedkar’s grandson Prakash Ambedkar thanking TMC Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien for giving a privilege notice against Shah “over his insulting remarks about Babasaheb”.

“Derogatory remarks against Babasaheb will not be tolerated by those who revere him and acknowledge his nonpareil. The battle against the anti-Ambedkar mindset will be fought from the streets to Parliament. Glad that Derek is a stakeholder in the battle against such mindset,” Prakash Ambedkar wrote.

Shah now is facing two privilege notices, the second moved by Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

Separately, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal wrote to TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar – both allies of the BJP – saying Shah had “hurt the sentiments of millions of people across the country” and that “people are beginning to feel that those who revere Babasaheb can no longer support the BJP”.

“Babasaheb is not just a leader but the soul of our nation. After this statement by the BJP, people expect you to deeply reflect on this issue as well,” he wrote in identical letters to Naidu and Kumar.

The AAP also released a video on X where an Artificial Intelligence-generated Ambedkar blesses Kejriwal, as the latter asks in the voiceover for “Babasaheb to give me strength so that I can fight those who have insulted you and your Constitution”.

After days of growing differences between them in Parliament over the Adani and EVM issues, the Opposition parties have finally found an issue to rally around together.

On Thursday, the Opposition protest included apart from the Congress, MPs of the Shiv Sena (UBT), who are upset with Gandhi for his recent remarks on V D Savarkar, and of the AAP, which has made it clear it does not want an alliance with the Congress for the Assembly elections in Delhi.

While the TMC again kept a pointed distance from the Congress protest Thursday, it is on the same page as the latter as far as the issue goes.

For the Congress, which was the target of the BJP’s attack throughout the special debate on the Constitution in Parliament last week and this, the heat moving on to the ruling party is welcome.

Plus, the issue aligns with the anti-BJP campaign centred around the Constitution that Gandhi has stuck to, despite naysayers, and in line with the party’s tilt towards social justice in recent years.