New Delhi:Amid a major political row over Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks on Bhimrao Ambedkar, slogans of 'Jai Bhim' reverberated in Rajya Sabha on Thursday morning. Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar had hardly settled down when the opposition members started chanting 'Jai Bhim' while members of the treasury benches raised 'Jai Shri Ram' slogan in the House.
Members of the treasury benches also started raising slogans of 'Jai Bhim'. They and their counterparts in the opposition benches sought to outdo each other in raising 'Jai Bhim' while seeking to appropriate Ambedkar's legacy. Just as the proceedings were about to begin, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge stood up from his seat, raised both his hands and shouted 'Jai Bhim' three times. Other opposition MPs also repeated it in one voice each time.
The Chair tried to pacify Kharge and other opposition MPs with gesture of his hand and went on to extend birthday greetings to veteran BJP MP Ghanshyam Tiwari. BJP MP Neeraj Shekhar responded back with 'Jai Bhim' slogans repeated by his fellow MPs in a much louder and stronger voice. They also chanted 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.