A DIRTY GAME FOR VOTES, IN THE NAME OF DR AMBEDKAR

Today, instead of political process, we are seeing monotonous, senseless hate

- SHASHI SHEKHAR

Whatever happened at the Makar Dwar of Parliament on the penultimate day of the winter session is unbelievable. The ruling party alleges that two of its members were injured and hospitalized after Rahul Gandhi and some Congressmen who accompanied him pushed and shoved them.

The Congress, in turn, contends that it was BJP members who obstructed them and pushed Rahul and party president Mallikarjun Kharge, injuring the latter. Both parties lodged complaints and the matter is before the Lok Sabha speaker and the Delhi police.

The issue will drag on as both parties are trying to corner votes in the name of Babasaheb Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar.

In brief, here is how the incident unfolded: On Wednesday, home minister Amit Shah mentioned Dr Ambedkar in his address to the Rajya Sabha. Kharge moved a privilege motion against the remarks, and his post on X over the comments sparked a political fire. Soon opposition leaders began interpreting Shah's comments.

Former chief minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal shot off a letter to the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader Nitish Kumar and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo Chandrababu Naidu urging them to part ways with those who disrespect Ambedkar.

It all happened despite Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi making their positions clear.