Since the BJP came to power in 2014, Ambedkar and the Constitution have become important symbols in Indian politics in two ways. On the one hand, the BJP tries to capture the Dalit cultural imagination by celebrating Ambedkar Jayanti and 26 November as Constitution Day, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi participating on these occasions. On the other hand, the opposition parties use the image of Ambedkar and the Constitution as a symbolic protest against Hindutva majoritarian politics, claiming that democratic institutions are completely manipulated by the ruling regime.
However, it is the continuous assertion of Ambedkarite political parties and organisations that sustains Ambedkar’s politics. A few decades back, Dalits started the celebration of Constitution Day on 26 November; now it is National Constitution Day and, ironically, Modi takes credit for this. Things came to a head, when on the occasion of the 75th year of the Indian Constitution, a discussion took place in the parliament.
While responding to the opposition, BJP MP Amit Shah in the Rajya Sabha said: “Abhi ek fashion ho gaya hai – Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. Itna naam agar Bhagwan ka naam lete to saat janmon tak swarg mil jata (It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. If they had taken God’s name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven).
” This eleven-second video clip was highly objectionable to the oppositio.
