Lucknow: Days after a Rashtriya Lok Dal spokesperson demanded the Union home minister’s apology for Ambedkar remarks, National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partner Jayant Chaudhary has directed that all RLD national and state spokespersons be removed till further orders.
In a statement Monday, RLD general secretary (organisation) Trilok Tyagi said that all the national and state spokespersons were dismissed from their posts with immediate effect.
Later, Tyagi told ThePrint that the order was carried out as some spokespersons were “inactive while others were over active”. “Now, they (a new set of spokespersons) will again be made after some time (sic),” he added.
RLD state president Ramashish Rai confirmed to ThePrint that the decision was taken after party spokesperson Kamal Gautam, a Dalit, had said Friday that Amit Shah’s remarks about Ambedkar were “inappropriate” and that he should “apologise”.
Free and Fair Journalism Will Continue to be Important in 2025
You are crucial in ensuring that independent journalism thrives. Support us in delivering unbiased, in-depth stories that matter.
“Yes, the decision has been taken on that basis. All spokespersons, national and state, stand removed from their posts at the moment till further orders,” he said.
Rai refused to comment on whether the RLD chief was unhappy with Gautam’s remarks, saying that Chaudhary alone could answer this query.
Shah had to come out with a statement over the row surrounding his remarks made during the Constitution debate in the Rajya Sabha. “My statements were misrepresented. Congress spreads fake news. I can never speak against Ambedkar ji,” he said.
A senior RLD leader told ThePrint that Gautam’s comments had irked the party leadership and put the NDA in a difficult situation, which is why the decision was taken. “The remark made by Gautam is completely irresponsible. The RLD leadership doesn’t support the stand,” the leader said.
While slamming Shah for his remarks, Gautam had gone on to comment how little action was being taken against the increasing number of criminal incidents against Dalits and women in the country.
“Amit Shah’s statement on Babasaheb is not correct, because the statement goes against those people who consider Babasaheb as God… As far as the government is concerned, you (Shah) are a person of law and order, the home minister, (and) now law and order is so disturbed. Harassment is happening inside temples, and people are being beaten up even for entering the temples…rapes are happening in temples, but no action is being taken in those cases (sic),” he had told the media in Muzaffarnagar.
“If we are in the government, it doesn’t mean that (one would not comment)…Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, whom we consider God, gave us the right to walk, wear clothes and sit at work. The home minister’s statement is not right, and we appeal to the home minister that he should tender an apology…Because this is not a small statement; this will not only go in India but this will reach all those who follow Babasaheb across the world,” he said.
To a query on whether Shah’s statement was twisted, Gautam had asserted that even if such was the case, there was no harm in apologising because “these people go and seek votes in the name of Babasaheb from the (Dalit) community in every election”.
Also Read: Accused of land-grabbing, gangrape, torture, BJP’s Bilsi MLA Harish Shakya is in the eye of a storm
‘Will keep Babasaheb’s legacy alive’
On Monday, Gautam told ThePrint that he believed in Ambedkar since his childhood days and that the RLD won’t be able to face the Dalits if it stayed quiet on any issue surrounding Babasaheb.
“The party’s action is a separate issue…the party has to adhere to rules and regulations after entering an alliance. Some people from our community are upset with this statement (of Shah). At the political level, changes keep happening. We had no directions from the party (to make such a statement) but I spoke (about it) as it is my birth right and will keep ideology above everything else. I will keep Babasaheb’s legacy alive,” he said.
Gautam said that he joined the party because of former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh’s ideology, which is about working for the poor, the depressed, and the oppressed. “When I joined the party, it was not for sharing power. (Jayant) Chaudhary sahab joined the NDA later. I will continue to be in the party because I believe in Chaudhary Charan Singh ji’s ideology,” he said to a query on his future with the RLD.
Charan Singh, a two-time chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, is the grandfather of RLD chief and Union minister Jayant Chaudhary.
Several leaders of the RLD, especially from its SC/ST Morcha, have been talking about the statement in hushed voices. “This statement was Gautam’s personal statement, but it is the view of several others in the party. We had tried to talk to Jayant ji and asked him to issue a statement on this because several organisations attached to our party are agitated,” a leader of the RLD SC/ST Morcha told ThePrint.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: ‘Tughlaqi action’—BJP workers vow to rebuild camp office in Ballia bulldozed by district admin
