New Delhi: A massive political row erupted Wednesday as the Congress and other opposition parties launched an all-out attack on Home Minister Amit Shah for his remarks on B R Ambedkar and demanded his sacking, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top BJP leaders rallied to his defence and said he has exposed Congress’ “anti-Ambedkar” stand.
As opposition parties unitedly protested against Shah and stalled both houses of Parliament, alleging that his remarks had insulted Ambedkar and demanding his apology, Shah said that the Congress had distorted his comments under a malicious campaign after the discussion on the Constitution “established” that the opposition party was against Ambedkar and reservation.
Prime Minister Modi hit out at the Congress, saying its “rotten ecosystem” and “malicious lies” cannot hide its misdeeds and said the home minister had exposed the opposition party’s “dark history of insulting” Ambedkar.
“They are clearly stung and stunned by the facts he presented, which is why they are now indulging in theatrics. Sadly, for them, people know the truth,” Modi said in a series of posts on X.
When it comes to Ambedkar, his government’s respect and reverence are absolute, the prime minister asserted.
Parties like the Congress, Trinamool Congress, AAP, RJD, SP, Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Left protested against Shah inside Parliament and outside.
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien submitted a notice to move a privilege motion against Shah in the Rajya Sabha, where the Home Minister made the remarks.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge warned that there will be a countrywide agitation if Shah does not resign.
Addressing a press conference here, Shah alleged that the Congress in the past has also misrepresented his and even PM Narendra Modi’s comments to spread confusion and mislead people.
“I condemn the Congress for twisting facts. Why did it happen? It happened because BJP leaders spoke on how the NDA governments upheld the Constitution and established with facts that the Congress is anti-Ambedkar, anti-Constitution and anti-reservation,” Shah told reporters.
“When all these facts came out, the Congress used its old tricks and made an effort to mislead the society by presenting twisted facts,” Shah said, adding that he comes from a party that will never insult Ambedkar.
Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Kiren Rijiju, J P Nadda, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Ravneet Bittu also slammed the Congress, accusing it of resorting to cheap politics and spreading fake narratives.
Congress president Kharge addressed a press conference and demanded that Shah resign or else PM Modi should sack him.
Asked about Kharge’s demand, Shah said in a lighter vein that he can quit if this would make the Congress president happy but it would never solve his problems. He has to remain in his chair, a reference to his party being in the opposition, for 15 more years, Shah said.
Kharge said a person becomes a minister by taking oath of the Constitution and if he insults it, he has no right to remain in the Cabinet.
“We want Amit Shah to quit his post and if he doesn’t, I want to tell the prime minister that if he has even little respect for Babasaheb, he should dismiss Amit Shah from his post before midnight,” he said.
“If there is no resignation, there will be protests all over the country. Babasaheb Ambedkar ji belongs to everyone because he used to talk about every person of society including Dalits, the oppressed and the deprived. He had sympathy for everyone,” he said.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said, “Baba Saheb is the architect of the Constitution, a great man who gave direction to the country. The country will not tolerate his insult or the insult to the Constitution framed by him. Home Minister should apologize!”
He later claimed, “They are against the Constitution. They had said earlier that we will change the Constitution. They are against Ambedkar and his ideology. Their whole work is to finish off Ambedkar’s contribution and the Constitution. The whole country knows.”
As opposition MPs protested in Rajya Sabha, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju accused the Congress of misleading the country by using only a part of Shah’s remarks made in the Rajya Sabha and asserted that the Home Minister had in very clear words mentioned how the Congress party had insulted Ambedkar.
“You (Congress) cannot use an 11-12 second clip out of Shah’s entire speech and mislead the nation,” Rijiju said and stressed that for the BJP, Ambedkar is equivalent to God.
Several MPs of the INDIA bloc also held a protest on Parliament premises demanding Shah’s apology for his remarks on Ambedkar.
The uproar in Parliament also spilled onto the streets of the national capital and other states like Maharashtra, Bihar and Tamil Nadu where various parties held protests.
In Delhi, AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal led a protest with hundreds of supporters outside the BJP chanting slogans of “Amit Shah maafi maango, Amit Shah sharm karo”.
“Abhi ek fashion ho gaya hai – Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. Itna naam agar bhagwan ka lete to saat janmon tak swarg mil jata (It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar’. If they had taken God’s name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven),” Shah had said in the Rajya Sabha during the debate on Constitution.
Shah had also said the BJP is happy that the Congress is taking Ambedkar’s name but it should also speak about its real sentiments towards him, and went on to narrate incidents where the opposition party had denied the respect due to him.
In Mumbai, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray said, “Amit Shah’s remarks on Dr Ambedkar show the party’s (BJP’s) arrogance and have exposed its true face.”
“Prime Minister Modi should act against Amit Shah for his remarks on Dr Ambedkar and he should quit if he is not able to do so,” the former chief minister said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that Union Home Minister’s remarks about Ambedkar were a display of the BJP’s “casteist and anti-Dalit mindset”.
“The mask has fallen! As Parliament reflects on 75 glorious years of the Constitution, HM @AmitShah chose to TARNISH this occasion with DEROGATORY remarks against Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, that too in the temple of Democracy,” she posted on X.
“This is a display of BJP’s CASTEIST and ANTI-DALIT mindset. If this is how they behave after being reduced to 240 seats, imagine the damage they would’ve inflicted if their dream of 400 seats had been realised. They’d have rewritten history to entirely erase Dr. Ambedkar’s contributions,” she alleged.
M K Stalin, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, said, “Only those who commit more sins should be concerned about ‘punya’ (Good deeds). Those who are concerned about the country, its people and the protection of the Constitution will only utter the name of Babasaheb Dr Ambedkar and they will have to utter only his name.”
“BJP leaders should hear this loud and clear, Babasaheb Ambedkar is our fashion, passion, inspiration and motivation as well,” RJD leader and former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav said.
Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said they respected BR Ambedkar for his contribution to the framing of the Constitution.
“You all should see what kind of language has been used by him in the Parliament’¦ This is the situation in Delhi. In UP, the kind of language our CM (Yogi Adityanath) uses in the House is not democratic. If we talk about Right to Speech, then we will have to talk about Right to ‘Samman’ as well now,” the SP chief said.
P Sandosh Kumar of CPI said Shah’s remarks are deplorable.
The Congress also held protests outside all Raj Bhavans in states and raised slogans demanding Amit Shah’s apology, saying that Shah’s remarks have hurt the sentiments of millions of Dalits and oppressed groups.
PTI