‘Like Eklavya and his sliced thumb’: In Constitution debate, Rahul’s social justice pitch has a new character

Gandhi said Savarkar wanted that “the book India is run by should be superseded by this book (Manusmiriti)”. “And this is what the fight (between the BJP and the Opposition) is about,” the Congress leader said.

Dalit activists and social justice parties denounce Manusmriti as antithetical to the ideas of the Constitution, and say that going by it, Dalits, tribals, women and people from the backward communities were second-class citizens.

Does the BJP support what Savarkar said, Gandhi asked. “Do you support your leader’s words? Because when you speak in Parliament about protecting the Constitution, you are ridiculing Savarkar, you are abusing Savarkar, you are defaming Savarkar.”

While the Congress MP has spoken about Savarkar earlier too, his focus on Eklavya in his speech was most notable. Gandhi spoke at length about how Dronacharya, teacher to royals like the Pandavas, had refused to take on Eklavya as a disciple as he was born a “low-caste” Nishad; how Eklavya taught himself archery with the help of a clay image of Dronacharya as his guru (as per the Mahabharata); and how Dronacharya still had his way by asking for Eklavya’s right thumb as his due as teacher, thus ensuring he couldn’t use a bow and arrow again.

Gandhi said that, similarly, the Narendra Modi government was cutting off the right thumb of disadvantaged youngsters to snatch their skills and talent. “Like Dronacharya cut the thumb of Eklavya, you are cutting the thumbs of India’s youngsters.”

The Congress leader equated the same to the Modi government’s “favouritism” towards the Adani Group, thus “cutting the thumbs” of the deprived; as well as to lateral entry for government posts, that does not require reservation to be taken into account, and the Agnipath recruitment scheme for the defence forces, for debilitating “India’s youngsters, backwards and the poor”.

The Congress MP then reiterated his call for a caste census and removing the 50% ceiling on quotas. The Congress has been promising the same since the Lok Sabha elections and repeatedly talked about it during the Maharashtra polls.

The other issues mentioned by Gandhi were the 2020 Hathras rape-murder incident and the Dalit victim’s family “wait for justice”, which was also raised by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in her maiden Lok Sabha speech as part of the debate.

Both the Gandhis also raised the Sambhal dispute and violence in their speeches in the Lok Sabha. Lately, the Congress has been cagey about associating itself with issues seen as “Muslim”, to avoid claims of appeasement politics by the BJP.