NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Delhi assembly elections, Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday announced the ‘Dr Ambedkar Samman Scholarship‘ for Dalit students, amid ongoing controversy over Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks about Ambedkar.
Kejriwal stated that the Delhi government will cover the entire cost of education for Dalit children, including studies abroad.
Earlier in the day, Kejriwal took to ‘X’ and wrote, “Amit Shah Ji and BJP insulted and mocked Baba Saheb in the Parliament. In response to this, today I am going to make a big announcement in honour of Babasaheb. Press conference at 1 pm.”
The controversy
On Friday, both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha adjourned sine die shortly after proceedings began, following a heated scuffle in Parliament over the Ambedkar remarks.
The confrontation between the ruling party and the opposition left two BJP MPs injured and resulted in an FIR against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.
The controversy stems from Amit Shah’s address in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday during the conclusion of a two-day discussion on 75 years of the Constitution. Shah criticized the Congress, stating that invoking Ambedkar’s name had become a “fashion” for the party.
“If they had taken the name of god so many times instead of Ambedkar then they would have got heaven for 7 lives,” he remarked.
Following this, protests erupted in Parliament, with both Treasury and Opposition benches staging demonstrations outside the premises on Thursday morning.
BJP MPs held protests accusing the Congress of “insulting” Ambedkar, while INDIA bloc MPs, led by Rahul Gandhi, demanded Amit Shah’s resignation over his comments.
During the protests, leaders from both sides alleged physical confrontations. BJP MPs Pratap Sarangi and Mukesh Rajput sustained injuries and were admitted to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi.
Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accused Rahul Gandhi of acting like a “goon” and deliberately disrupting BJP’s protest at Makar Dwar, which led to the altercation.
Meanwhile, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that BJP MPs pushed him while he was entering Parliament during the standoff. Kharge continued to criticise Amit Shah for his remarks, addressing the media alongside Rahul Gandhi.
