Ambedkar’s ascendancy: reverence, resistance, and the politics of celebritisation

This article examines the celebritisation of Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar within Indian English-language digital news media between 2015 and 2025, focusing on how his public presence is constructed and negotiated across contemporary news coverage. Based on a qualitative textual analysis of 206 news articles and opinion pieces, it identifies three recurring modes: ritualised reverence in Ambedkar Jayanti reporting, coverage of statue desecration, and digital activism linked to anti-caste mobilisation and diaspora engagement. Drawing on communication, media, and celebrity studies, the article examines how visibility is sustained through repetition and participation in digital news environments. The findings demonstrate that Ambedkar’s public presence is extensive and widely recognisable, yet uneven in its articulation. Mainstream coverage often relies on commemorative and institutional narratives that produce recognition yet restrict sustained engagement with Ambedkar’s anti-caste thought. In contrast, digital platforms enable counter-public formations where his ideas are reinterpreted and mobilised across national and transnational contexts.