Nashik, Maharashtra: Forest dept official gets angry and emotional over Minister Girish Mahajan ‘not mentioning Ambedkar in speech’, despite minister’s apology, politics erupts

Forest Guard Madhavi Jadhav offended by Girish Mahajan not mentioning Bhimrao Ambedkar in his speech.
Nashik Forest Department staffer Madhavi Jadhav and Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan (Images via News 18 and The Indian Express)

As the entire country was immersed in Republic Day celebrations on Monday (26th January), the sobbing visuals of a woman forest guard from Maharashtra went viral on the internet. In a viral video, Forest Guard Madhavi Jadhav was seen crying and lashing out at Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Girish Mahajan for an unusual reason.

According to reports, Jadhav was upset with the Minister for not mentioning Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s name in his Republic Day speech in a flag unfurling ceremony in Nashik. Notably, Dr B.R. Ambedkar, India’s first Minister of Law and Justice and the Chairman of the Drafting Committee that drafted the Indian Constitution, is regarded as an icon by many.

As Girish Mahajan was addressing the gathering at the Republic Day event, the woman police officer created a scene by shouting and crying over Mahajan not mentioning Ambedkar in his speech. Jadhav labelled Mahajan’s failure to mention Ambedkar in his speech as an attempt to erase his name.

“The person because of whom the Constitution exists, are you trying to erase him? This is a very big mistake by the Minister. I will not apologise. The guardian Minister must accept this mistake. I have nothing to do with the media. I can unload sand trucks, do manual labour, but I will not allow Babasaheb’s identity to be erased. If you want to suspend me, you can do so. But I will not allow the erasure of Babasaheb,” Jadhav lamented, as people around her tried to pacify her. She was removed from the event and briefly detained.

Mahajan apologises, says the omission was unintentional

Responding to the allegations, Girish Mahajan clarified that the omission of a reference to Ambedkar in his speech was not intentional. He apologised for the omission. “It must have happened unintentionally. I had no such intention. I raised slogans like ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Ki Jai’. I had no intention of deliberately omitting any name,” Mahajan said.

Ambedkar’s grandson says not mentioning BR Ambedkar’s name is a ‘crime’

However, despite Mahajan’s apology, the incident triggered controversy because some political leaders in the state claim that omitting Dr Ambedkar’s name is a crime. Prakash Ambedkar, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief and grandson of Ambedkar, vowed to take legal action against Mahajan. Prakash Ambedkar, who spoke to Jadhav, claimed that Mahajan’s failure to mention Ambedkar in his speech constituted a crime under the Atrocities Act.

“Today, in Nashik, I spoke on the phone with Madhavi Jadhav (Forest Guard), who was openly protesting the low mentality of BJP Minister Girish Mahajan. At this time, Madhavi Jadhav narrated the full sequence of events to me. The act of Minister Girish Mahajan constitutes a crime under the Atrocity Act. In this regard, efforts are underway from the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi Nashik West Committee to file a complaint with the police, ” Prakash Ambedkar wrote on X on Monday.

“If the police do not register this crime, I will personally draft the legal documents in this matter and force the police to record the offence. The RSS-BJP continuously insults Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. We openly condemn the acts of the BJP and Girish Mahajan, ” he added.

Congress MP Varsha Eknath Gaikwad has slammed minister Girish Mahajan and hailed the forest department official Madhavi Jadhav as a hero. She has also claimed that BJP ministers have a habit of insulting Dr Ambedkar.

Written by OpIndia Staff
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