Watch- Another scuffle over Ambedkar row: BJP, Congress councillors brawl in India’s Chandigarh

The political faceoff in India over the row involving Dalit icon Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar is not over yet. Just days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the opposition INDIA bloc fought over the issue in the Winter Session of Parliament, a similar issue has emerged in the Union Territory (UT) of Chandigarh.

Visuals shared by the news agency ANI on Tuesday (Dec 24) showed a fight between the councillors of the BJP and the Congress over the Ambedkar row. The incident took place during the general house meeting of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation.

ANI reported that the councillors of the Congress and its national ally the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) passed a motion against Indian Home Minister Amit Shah (over his remarks on Dr Ambedkar) and demanded his resignation.

Here’s a look at the video:

BJP councillors, meanwhile, accused the Congress of trying to belittle Dr Ambedkar during the government of the country’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Separately, BJP member and nominated councillor Anil Masih targeted the Congress by saying that its leader Rahul Gandhi was out on bail (citing the National Herald Case). 

The video shared by ANI showed the councillors pushing and arguing with each other as other councillors tried to calm them down.

The political slugfest erupted when Home Minister Shah made a statement on Ambedkar in the Rajya Sabha during a debate on the 75th year of the adoption of the Indian Constitution.

Taking a dig at the opposition, Shah said “Abhi ek fashion ho gaya hai – Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. Itna naam agar bhagwan ka lete to saat janmon tak swarg mil jata (It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar’. If they (opposition) had taken God’s name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven).”

“Take his name 100 times more, but I want to say what are your sentiments about him,” Shah added and pointed out that Ambedkar had to resign from the first Cabinet following a disagreement with the Nehru government.

Opposition lawmakers considered the home minister’s remarks an insult to Ambedkar. Shah, meanwhile, accused the opposition of sharing a trimmed version of his speech. 

(With inputs from agencies)