Mamata Banerjee declared statewide protests on Monday against the BJP for its reported insult of B.R. Ambedkar in a statement where she accused the party of being jatibidweshi (racist/casteist) and of betraying the Dalits and the Adivasis.
Her parliamentary party and its members have been protesting in Delhi but are conspicuously missing in Congress-led activities on the same issue.
The Trinamool chief has been fiercely critical in the wake of Union home minister Amit Shah’s remarks earlier this week in Parliament that were deemed an insult to the Father of the Constitution.
“Ei jatibidweshi BJP-k dhikkar (Shame on this racist/casteist BJP)!” wrote the Bengal chief minister on X post on Friday evening.
“BJP has been systematically demolishing our constitutional ethos, tearing apart the values that define our democracy and the principles that bind us as a nation,” added Mamata.
Seniors in her party have said Mamata, in keeping with her current refusal to be “a Congress rubberstamp” in the INDIA bloc, wants Trinamool not to yield to the national Opposition’s “herd impulse” or confine itself to the role of a mere participant in Rahul Gandhi-led programmes.
They said she wants Trinamool to carve a niche for itself in the national Opposition space.
“Their VITRIOLIC remarks against the Father of our Constitution, Babasaheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, are a reflection of the culture of HATE and INTOLERANCE that is being incubated,” wrote Mamata.
“To condemn this, we will organise protest rallies across all blocks of Bengal and every ward of Kolkata on 23rd December, from 2 PM to 3 PM,” she added.
“I urge you to join us in this fight to defend Babasaheb's legacy and our Constitutional spirit. Let’s unite to hold the BJP accountable for their UNFORGIVABLE actions,” she wrote.
On Tuesday, slamming the Congress, Shah had said in Parliament: “Abhi ek fashion ho gaya hai — Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. Itna naam agar bhagwan ka lete toh saat janmo tak swarg mil jata (It has become a fashion to keep invoking Ambedkar. Had they taken god’s name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven for seven rebirths).”
