Ambedkar, Constitution subjected to 'ferocious assault' by RSS: Congress

The Congress on Tuesday recalled that BR Ambedkar had moved the resolution in the Constituent Assembly 76 years ago for the formal adoption of the draft Constitution and claimed that Ambedkar as well as the Constitution were then subject to a "ferocious assault" by the RSS which has continued since.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh also recalled that in his closing speech before moving the resolution, Ambedkar had hailed the role of the Congress in drafting the Constitution.

Today, exactly 76 years ago, Dr. Ambedkar moved the resolution in the Constituent Assembly for the formal adoption of the Draft Constitution of India, he said.

"Ambedkar's closing speech on that occasion is undoubtedly one of the greatest ever made by anybody anywhere in the 20th century," Ramesh said on X.

"During the initial part of his speech, Dr. Ambedkar had said this: 'The task of the Drafting Committee would have been a very difficult one if this Constituent Assembly had been merely a motley crowd, a tessellated pavement without cement, a black stone here and a white stone there in which each member or each group was a law unto itself. There would have been nothing but chaos. This possibility of chaos was reduced to nil by the presence of the Congress Party inside the Assembly which brought into its proceedings a sense of order and discipline.

"It is because of the discipline of the Congress Party that the Drafting Committee was able to pilot the Constitution in the Assembly in the sure knowledge as to the fate of each article and each amendment. The Congress Party is, therefore, entitled to all the credit for the smooth sailing of the Draft Constitution in the Assembly'," Ramesh said.

"Dr. Ambedkar and the Constitution that was to be formally adopted a day later were then subject to a ferocious assault by the RSS, an assault that has continued since," the Congress leader claimed.

Since 2015, Constitution Day, or Samvidhan Diwas, has been celebrated on November 26 to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution by the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949.