NEW DELHI: Several MPs of the INDIA bloc, including Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, staged a protest in Parliament premises on Wednesday demanding Home Minister Amit Shah’s apology for his remarks which they claimed were an insult to B R Ambedkar.
The MPs lined up in front of the steps of the Makar Dwar of Parliament carrying images of Ambedkar.
They raised slogans such as ‘Jai Bhim’, ‘Sangh ka Vidhan nahi chalega’ and ‘Amit Shah maafi maango’.
MPs of the Congress, DMK, RJD, the Left, AAP, among others, participated in the protest.
The Congress on Tuesday alleged that Shah’s remarks in the Rajya Sabha during a debate on the Constitution show that the BJP and the RSS leaders have a “lot of hatred” for Ambedkar and demanded an apology from him.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had said those who believe in Manusmriti will definitely be at odds with Ambedkar.
Congress general secretary-in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh had shared a video snippet on X from Shah’s speech in the upper house.
“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, taking a swipe at the opposition.
Congress president Kharge had also lashed out at Shah, saying the “insult” of Babasaheb by the home minister has once again proven that the BJP-RSS were against the tricolour, their forefathers opposed the Ashok Chakra and the people of the Sangh Parivar wanted to implement Manusmriti instead of the Constitution of India from the very first day.
“Babasaheb Dr Ambedkar Ji did not allow this to happen, that is why there is so much hatred towards him, Kharge had said.
“The ministers of the Modi government should understand carefully that for crores of people like me, Babasaheb Ambedkar is no less than God… He is and will always be the messiah of Dalits, tribals, backward classes, minorities and the poor, Kharge had said in a post in Hindi on X.
The home minister attacked the Congress in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, saying the party treated the Constitution as the “private fiefdom” of one family and “played fraud” with Parliament.
Concluding a two-day debate on the “Glorious Journey of 75 Years of the Constitution of India”, Shah ripped into the Congress for its appeasement politics and claimed that the party wanted to breach the 50 per cent quota limit to provide reservation to Muslims.
He also asked the Congress if it supported the Muslim personal law and alleged that the party never worked for the welfare of the backward classes. Shah asserted that the BJP has already brought in a common civil code (Uniform Civil Code) in Uttarakhand and will implement it in all States.
