Did Congress gain any benefit from the controversy sparked by Amit Shah’s statement on Ambedkar?

“Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, if you had taken this many names of God, you would have attained heaven for seven lives.”

This is the same small part of the speech of Union Home Minister Amit Shah which went viral on social media, due to which the opposition is seen attacking across the country.

The winter session of Parliament ended this week amid a huge uproar. In the last week of the Parliament session, this statement of the Home Minister regarding BR Ambedkar caused a huge uproar.

Earlier, Priyanka Gandhi’s first speech in Parliament on the bill for ‘One Nation One Election’ i.e. holding simultaneous elections across the country was also a topic of discussion.

Amit Shah, while discussing the Constitution in Parliament, had targeted the Congress and said that it only takes the name of Ambedkar but does exactly the opposite.

But the opposition posted the clip of the first part of his speech on social media the next day, calling it insulting to Dr. Ambedkar and demanding the resignation of the Home Minister.

At the same time, the Delhi Assembly elections are just a few weeks away, so the opposition has raised it as a big issue.

So has the BJP come on the back foot after this statement? Just like the issue of constitutional amendment was said to cause loss to the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, is it preparing to make it an issue in the elections again?

Does the speed with which Prime Minister Modi tweeted on this issue and Home Minister Amit Shah clarified by holding a press conference show that the party does not want to take any chances?

What does Priyanka Gandhi’s first Parliament session point towards and will the BJP be able to garner further support on One Nation One Election?

The Tribune’s Associate Editor and Bureau of Chief Aditi Tandon and Hindustan Times’ National Political Editor Sunetra Chaudhary participated in this discussion.

Amit Shah’s speech causing loss to the BJP?

Congress says that Amit Shah has insulted the Constitution maker Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar.

On the other hand, the BJP is saying that Congress has been insulting Dr. Ambedkar since Nehru’s time, BJP has respected Ambedkar and implemented his policies.

Has this speech of Amit Shah caused harm to BJP or is everything the same as before?

On this, Hindustan Times’ National Political Editor Sunetra Chaudhary says that the biggest advantage for BJP is that the party is always pro-active, as soon as the opposition parties started raising this issue, BJP showed activism.

“The Prime Minister also tweeted and alleged that Congress is misusing it. However, instead of the video clip going viral in the Prime Minister’s tweet, there was another part of the speech, in which the message was given that if something has to be made viral, then make this part viral.”

After this statement went viral, many people believed that the BJP had harmed itself with this speech. In such a situation, the question arises whether this proved to be a self-goal for the BJP.

Responding to this question, Sunetra said, “It has never been seen that Amit Shah clarifies any issue, but this time he held a press conference in the evening and answered all the questions.

“This shows that the party had to clarify to handle the situation, which usually does not match the strategy of the BJP.”

Sunetra Chaudhary believes that the BJP’s quick response is their strength, but if this situation had happened with the Congress, they would have taken a few days to respond to it.

On this, The Tribune’s Bureau Chief Aditi Tandon says, “According to me, this is not a self-goal, because, from the first day of the winter session itself, we have seen that the direction of issues in politics has changed rapidly.”

“On the first day of the winter session, the Adani issue was hot and the opposition debated on it for the first three days. After this, the government and the opposition demanded a debate for a special discussion on the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution, which was approved.”

“Then the discussion reached the Constitution from the Adani issue, but when the debate started, the issue went to BR Ambedkar and as soon as the opposition raised it, the direction of the issue changed.”

She further says, “After this, the opposition continued its protest, but the ruling party changed its strategy in such a way that all the MPs gathered at Makar Dwar. During this time, the opposition should have understood that instead of going in the middle, they should have gone from the side, because during this time the issue changed again.”

She says that the biggest challenge for the opposition is how long they maintain an issue, if they move from one issue to another quickly, then it becomes difficult to say whether it has caused harm to the BJP or not.

According to Aditi Tandon, the job of the opposition in politics is to raise issues and during this time if the ruling party makes even a slight mistake, then it has to bear the brunt of it.

Where is Congress missing?

After a good comeback in the Lok Sabha, it was believed that Congress is returning with the same enthusiasm that the party once had. But the results of the recent assembly elections have again raised questions about Congress politics.

Why is Congress not able to maintain any issue?

On this, Aditi Tandon says, “Congress and the opposition will first have to decide what is the issue for them.”

She says, “When BJP gave the slogan of 400 plus in the Lok Sabha elections, the opposition was successful in giving the message that BJP is trying to change the Constitution and this weakened the ruling party to some extent, which was a big success for the opposition. But what did the opposition do after that, they let that set narrative slip out of their hands.”

According to Aditi Tandon, the opposition does not lack issues, but their shortcoming is that they are not able to maintain any issues.

On this, Sunetra Chaudhary says, “Both BJP and Congress held press conferences, but when you listened to Rahul Gandhi’s press conference, you saw that he was wearing a blue T-shirt, which was in the name of Jai Bhim, but did not say anything special about Ambedkar in it.”

“Rahul Gandhi again started talking about the Adani issue. Due to this, Ambedkar’s supporters did not understand this message.”

According to Sunetra, Congress had talked about going to Raj Bhavan in different cities, but no concrete action was seen on this. On the other hand, if the BJP had been there, they would have done something about this.

On this, Aditi Tandon says that despite Congress raising the Adani issue repeatedly, it is not able to maintain it effectively, because this issue is not relevant for all people but for some special sections.

“Therefore, Congress should decide with its strategic team which issues it will raise that can get widespread public support.”

What has changed with Priyanka’s entry into Parliament?

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, who became an MP from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, raised the issue of constitution, reservation, and caste census in her first speech in the Lok Sabha on Friday, 13 December 2024.

Congress leader and her brother Rahul Gandhi seemed quite satisfied with Priyanka’s first speech in Parliament. He described Priyanka’s speech as better than his first speech in Parliament.

Many people believe that Priyanka Gandhi’s arrival has strengthened the opposition, but the question is whether this strength will remain.

On this, Aditi Tandon says that it was very important for Priyanka Gandhi to come forward as the lead speaker in the debate on the Constitution.

She said, “Looking at Priyanka Gandhi, it seemed as if she was imitating her grandmother, Indira Gandhi. Her way of draping the pallu, her gait, and her style, everything was like a replay of Indira Gandhi.”

According to Aditi Tandon, Priyanka Gandhi’s speech was short and effective, in which she gave a direct message to the BJP.

Aditi said that when Priyanka was speaking, Rajnath Singh gave her a commendable gesture, which shows the power of the Parliament. She says, “In Parliament, we should remember that you can be opponents of each other, but not enemies.”

On this, Sunetra Chaudhary says, “When Priyanka Gandhi gave her first speech, I was in Parliament that day. While standing outside, a BJP minister came and asked how Priyanka’s speech was. BJP knows very well that Priyanka Gandhi is a natural politician.”

According to Sunetra, Priyanka Gandhi’s speech was such that no one could say that it was her first speech. She says, “It took Rahul Gandhi a long time to give such a speech, but Priyanka’s confidence was evident from the very first day.”

Sunetra says, “Priyanka does not yet fully know what her issues and style will be in Parliament. She is still trying to decide these.”

“Priyanka took a positive step by meeting Amit Shah, as he is considered her biggest opponent and he also gave time to Priyanka which was a good sign.”

Sunetra said about Priyanka’s two bags, “As a political editor, I am unable to understand what was the message of Priyanka Gandhi’s two bags and what she wants to say.”

She believes that Priyanka Gandhi’s entry into Parliament will bring new energy to the opposition parties.

Will Priyanka become a challenge for Rahul?

Aditi Tandon says, “There was a reason why Sonia Gandhi delayed bringing Priyanka Gandhi into politics, it did not happen easily or spontaneously. Priyanka was ready for politics from the beginning. She had been campaigning for her mother in Amethi and Rae Bareli since the age of 20, so it would be wrong to say that she was not ready for it.”

“But there was an unspoken understanding in the family that Rahul Gandhi will take the party forward and this was clear in the entire leadership of the Congress.”

Aditi says that the BJP will try to show Priyanka and Rahul as rivals, but those who understand the Congress even a little, know that Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, and Priyanka are united.

“Their family has lost so much, from Indira Gandhi to Rajiv Gandhi, the family has seen so much sorrow that they will never break the threads of that sorrow.”

But at the same time, Aditi believes that power can change anyone at any time, but at the moment Priyanka Gandhi will not go against her brother Rahul.

What impact will this speech have on the Delhi elections?

While the winter session of Parliament was going on, the other hand, Aam Aadmi Party was making announcements like schemes for women and free treatment for senior citizens above 60 years of age.

On one hand, these announcements appear to be public welfare schemes, but when they are made just 2 months before the elections, it can also indicate panic.

If we look at these announcements after running the government strongly for 10 years, then the question arises whether this is a sign of panic or whether these schemes are being implemented to achieve some big electoral goal.

On this, Sunetra Chaudhary says, “The effect of panic is visible. I spoke to people who were campaigning for Arvind Kejriwal and they told me that they have understood that the people here are very angry.”

“The water stinks, the roads are not built properly and the people are angry about the ground situation they are seeing.”

Sunetra further said, “The voters on whom the Aam Aadmi Party has relied the most are the poor and backward people. They have not experienced any major reform in the last five years, so their anger has increased further.”

She also said that the Aam Aadmi Party says that in their survey, the people’s anger was against the MLAs, not against Arvind Kejriwal.

“This anger is related to local issues and the failure of the MLAs. This is why there is an atmosphere of panic and worry in the party now.”

On this, The Tribune’s Bureau Chief Aditi Tandon says, “There is no doubt that Arvind Kejriwal is facing political cases, he and his big leaders went to jail, and despite this, he never let go of his political control.”

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