Amid chants of “Jai Bhim” and “Dekho dekho kaun aya, Modi tera baap aya” at the Hunkar Rally organised by the Bhim Army in Delhi on Friday, 15 March, I chanced upon a “Behenji supporter” and an “Ambedkar follower,” sitting at the edge of the gathering, selling goodies with BR Ambedkar’s picture pasted on them.
Forty-year-old Sangeeta Goutam owns a shop in East Delhi’s Kondli where she sells pens, wristlets, books and other goodies with BR Ambedkar and Lord Buddha, both of whom championed for Dalit rights in India. When asked which political leader she supports, she broadens her coy smile and says, “Behenji!”
She quickly adds, “Modi ko chhor ke sab ko support karte hai. (I support everyone except Modi.)”
“For Rs 400,” Padam Singh Goutam, 54, was firm about the price he wants to sell the Constitution at. Not bothering about reluctant customers, this Hapur resident tells me he started reading BR Ambedkar in Class 6.
Amid the other goodies, he quickly flashed his watch which had Ambedkar’s picture, “See, I keep Ambedkar all the time with me.” He says he started running a shop in Hapur after he lost his job five years ago. Now, both his wife and him go to different places near their village and preach Ambedkar’s principles to young people. “People need to read the Constitution,” he said decisively.
At the rally organised to mark the 85th birth anniversary of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder Kanshi Ram, the Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad announced he woud be willing to contest the elections against Narendra Modi in any Uttar Pradesh constituency. Later, he told The Quint, “If respected Behenji (Mayawati), or Akhilesh bhai or even Mulayam Singh ji contest against Narendra Modi in his constituency, then I will not stand against him.” Read the full story here.
Aazad had asked a “sea of blue” to descend at the Jantar Mantar through a Facebook live from a Meerut hospital where he was admitted following an hour-long stand-off with the Uttar Pradesh police on 12 March.
He had been arrested by the police for violating the Model Code of Conduct.
At the rally, he was joined by LJD leader Sharad Yadav and a few hundred supporters of all age groups, from across the country.
Aazad is an Enigma For RSS/BJP, That is Why They Are Trying to Break Him: JNUSU President
Speaking to The Quint, JNUSU President Sai Balaji said, “Bhim Army Chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad is an enigma for the BJP and the RSS. They can’t crack him, that is why they are trying to break him. We will not let this happen,” he said.
He added that Aazad wanted Modi to have a fight and that if no strong candidate from the Opposition is willing to take up the fight, he would do so.
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