Rahul Gandhi Declares Ambedkar’s Legacy Deepens His Determination to Defend the Constitution

On the 69th Mahaparinirvan Diwas of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi paid floral tributes at the Prerna Sthal statue inside the Parliament House complex and declared that Babasaheb’s timeless legacy of equality, justice, and human dignity “strengthens my resolve to defend the Constitution.” Accompanied by party colleagues, Gandhi bowed before the statue and later told reporters that Ambedkar remains “an icon who showed a path to the entire country” by giving India its Constitution. “We remember him and protect his ideas and the Constitution,” he said.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, in a separate statement on X, described the day as the 70th Mahaparinirvan Diwas (noting the milestone from 1956) and urged citizens to “uphold, preserve, and defend” the values Ambedkar lived for. “Today, more than ever, we are called upon to protect his greatest gift to the nation—the Constitution of India,” Kharge wrote, framing the remembrance as a contemporary call to action against perceived threats to constitutional principles.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also joined the tributes, posting in Hindi that Ambedkar “championed the ideals of liberty, equality, justice, and fraternity” and ensured rights for the oppressed and marginalised through the Constitution. “Babasaheb’s ideals will forever guide the nation,” she wrote. Senior party leaders, including MPs and office-bearers, gathered at the AICC headquarters earlier in the day for a separate homage.

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The Congress has increasingly positioned itself as the primary defender of the Constitution in recent years, especially after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where Rahul Gandhi carried a pocket copy of the document during campaigns and repeatedly accused the BJP-RSS of intending to change it if granted a larger majority. The party’s emphasis on Ambedkar’s legacy has intensified ahead of key state elections and the 2029 general election.

Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Indian Constitution and a fierce crusader against caste discrimination, passed away on December 6, 1956, in Delhi. Every year, lakhs of followers gather at Chaitya Bhoomi in Mumbai, while political leaders across the spectrum pay public homage. This year’s observances coincided with the winter session of Parliament, giving the Congress an additional platform inside the House complex.

As tributes poured in from across the political divide—including from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah—the Congress messaging made clear that, for the principal opposition party, defending Ambedkar’s Constitution remains its central ideological and electoral plank in the ongoing battle for India’s democratic future.

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