‘BJP forced me to speak against Rahul Gandhi’: Ambedkar’s great-grandson

BR Ambedkar’s great-grandson Rajratna Ambedkar has alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party had approached him to speak and hold a protest against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s recent statements on reservations in the US. In a video, a clip of which is being circulated on social media, Rajratna Ambedkar claims that some BJP workers pressured him for two days to hold protests, but he stayed firm on not doing so.
“The country’s biggest party approached me to protest, hold dharnas against Rahul Gandhi’s statements…I was pressured for two days, but I have not held any protest, nor am I going to do it. I run my movement on society’s money, so only society can give me an order to do something. BJP cannot order me to do anything, and neither will I hold any protest on their order,” Rajratna said in the video posted on his Instagram account.
Backing Rahul Gandhi’s statements, Rajratna said, “Whoever is a proper Ambedkarite—will they have any issue with Rahul Gandhi’s statement? In fact, this is what we stand for. Reservation should be there until there is social discrimination. We also want to leave the reservation. We want to get out of the list. But is it the time to get out? This is what Rahul Gandhi has said.”
“…I’m not Rahul Gandhi’s supporter, nor am I a Congress supporter. But on this topic, why should we oppose Rahul Gandhi? For me, Congress and the BJP are the same. But we should understand what grounds one should hold an agitation on,” Rajratna added.
The video was also shared by Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate on X.
“He is Babasaheb’s great grandson – Dr. Rajratna Ambedkar. Clearly telling how BJP pressured them to spread confusion against reservation @RahulGandhi. But being a true Ambedkarite, he did not find anything wrong in Rahul ji’s statement. Rahul ji will end the 50% reservation limit,” she wrote in Hindi.
Rahul Gandhi, in a conversation during his recent visit to the United States, said India could think of scrapping the reservation system only if it becomes a “fair place”, providing equal opportunities to Indians from every section of society.
“The elephant in the room is that 90 per cent of India — OBCs, Dalits and Adivasis don’t play the game,” he said.
However, leaders from the BJP accused the Congress MP of making “anti-national” statements on foreign soil and criticised his stance on reservation. Union home minister Amit Shah and defence minister Rajnath Singh alleged that Rahul Gandhi was standing with forces “conspiring to divide India”. Meanwhile, leaders from the Sikh community and BJP members also staged a protest outside Gandhi’s residence in Delhi for his “anti-Sikh” remarks.
Following the backlash, Gandhi issued a clarification saying that he was not against reservation, but his party would take the reservation beyond 50 per cent if they came into power.
“Yesterday someone misrepresented my statement that I am against reservation. But let me make it clear – I am not against reservation. We will take reservation beyond the limit of 50 per cent,” he said.