LoP in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi during a protest by I.N.D.I.A. bloc members in Parliament premises accusing Home Minister Amit Shah of allegedly insulting B R Ambedkar, in New Delhi.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday chose a blue-coloured polo t-shirt over his trademark white ones, in what is seen as placing Dalit icon B R Ambedkar on a pedestal in his politics, as protests intensified against Home Minister Amit Shah over his remarks.
The message was not lost as Rahul’s images from an internal meeting of Congress MPs were shared. Fellow MPs too wore some tinge of blue as the party decided to march from Ambedkar’s statue at ‘Prerna Sthal’ in Parliament House to the Makar Dwar, the main entrance of Parliament.
The blue is associated with Ambedkar and Dalit politics, especially after he formed the Scheduled Castes Federation in 1942 and adopted a blue flag. He also retained the blue flag when he formed the Republican Party of India 14 years later.
Mayawati-led BSP as well as Lok Sabha MP Chandrasekhar-led ASP (Kanshiram) also have a blue flag. The trademark statues of Ambedkar in a blue blazer are seen across the country also.
In what was seen as a coordinated move, several MPs from the I.N.D.I.A. bloc's allies who joined the protest march that turned controversial after a face-off with BJP MPs, too wore some tinge of blue to prove a point. Several were holding Ambedkar’s photos.
“The country will neither forget nor tolerate the Home Minister's derogatory remarks against Baba Saheb. Amit Shah will have to apologise,” Rahul said, posting his images in a blue T-shirt during the protest march. In one of the images, he is seen holding a poster ‘I am Ambedkar’.
Rahul’s white T-shirt has attracted attention during his Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and since then, he had avoided the usual politician’s uniform white ‘kurta-pyjama’, in a concerted effort to appeal to the youth.
On Wednesday, Rahul had held a framed photograph of Ambedkar during a protest at the entrance of Parliament against Shah. He had also kept an image of Ambedkar in the seat beside him in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.