A major row erupted on Monday during the Republic Day speech of Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan in Nashik.
Madhavi Jadhav, a Forest Department staffer, interrupted Mahajan's speech for not mentioning Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. "Girish Mahajan didn't take Dr Ambedkar's name in his speech, whereas the names of those people who were not responsible for democracy and the Constitution were frequently mentioned. Why was the name of the person who deserves the real honour of the Republic Day not taken during the speech?" she asked.
She accused the minister of trying to erase Ambedkar's identity. "People like me can get government jobs because of Dr Ambedkar. I will not apologise," she said and dared the administration to suspend her.
Reacting to the incident, Mahajan later said the omission of reference to Dr Ambedkar was purely unintentional. "I raised slogans like 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', 'Vande Mataram', and 'Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Ki Jai'. I didn't intend to mention the name of Dr Ambedkar. I always hail him in my speeches. However, I apologise for the same," Mahajan said.
Meanwhile, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief and grandson of Dr Ambedkar, Prakash Ambedkar, spoke to Jadhav over the phone. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), he wrote, "Today, I spoke on the phone with Madhavi Jadhav (a forest guard), who publicly protested against the vile mentality of BJP minister Girish Mahajan in Nashik. During the call, Madhavi Jadhav narrated the entire sequence of events to me. Minister Girish Mahajan's actions constitute a crime under the Atrocities Act. The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi Nashik West Committee is currently attempting to file a complaint with the police regarding this matter."
He added, "If the police do not register this case, I myself will draft the necessary legal documents and compel the police to register the crime. The RSS-BJP is consistently insulting Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. We publicly condemn the actions of the BJP and Girish Mahajan," he added.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief also took to X and wrote, "LIBERTY, EQUALITY, JUSTICE, FRATERNITY. JAI BHIM."
