The grand old party postponed and later dropped its campaign demanding Amit Shah’s resignation.
New Delhi: The Congress party missed an big opportunity to launch a significant vote bank against the BJP over the issue of Dr BR Ambedkar during the “Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan” campaign as the movement lost momentum before it could even begin, providing relief to the BJP.
Congress attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the Winter Session of Parliament, when Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarked that invoking Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s name had become a “fashion.” He stated, “It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar… If they took God’s name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven.” This was turned into a major issue by the Congress, briefly putting the BJP on the defensive.
Eyeing the opportunity the Congress declared a large-scale campaign, and the party’s Working Committee had announced plans for the major movement.
The Congress and other opposition parties disrupted Parliament and demanded the Home Minister’s resignation. The Working Committee passed a resolution calling for Shah’s resignation and planned to launch the campaign from December 27. However, due to the death of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the campaign was postponed. After that, the Congress appeared to have given up the idea itself.
The campaign was supposed to include rallies and public meetings at the state, district, and block levels, culminating in a “Save the Constitution” rally in Mau on January 26.
The BJP responded aggressively to the said announcements. Chief ministers of BJP-ruled states and the entire BJP organization launched strong attacks on the Congress party.
In response to the Congress’s criticism over his remarks on Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the party of distorting his statements and being historically “anti-Ambedkar.” He highlighted that the Congress delayed conferring the Bharat Ratna on Ambedkar and alleged that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru harbored animosity towards him. Shah also pointed out that Congress governments failed to build memorials for Ambedkar, whereas the BJP has developed several sites dedicated to his legacy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi supported Shah’s stance, accusing the Congress of attempting to erase Ambedkar’s legacy and undermine the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes communities. He stated that the Congress’s “rotten ecosystem” and “malicious lies” cannot hide its historical misdeeds against Ambedkar.
The BJP was worried that issues related to the Constitution and Dr. Ambedkar might dominate elections, as they had during the Lok Sabha polls. To prevent this, it adopted an aggressive approach. While the campaign might not impact the Delhi elections, it could have had an effect in states like Bihar.
But Congress’ campaign fizzled out due to a weak organization and the central leadership’s indifference.
On Friday, the Congress announced a “Constitution Protection Conference” in Patna, Bihar, on January 18, to be addressed by Rahul Gandhi. This indicates an attempt to raise the Constitution and Ambedkar issue in Bihar, but it remains unclear how far the campaign will progress.
Bihar is set for assembly elections in October, and the success of the Congress campaign will become evident in the coming days.