Congress demands resignation of Amit Shah over Ambedkar remarks

The Congress on Wednesday demanded the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah for his remarks in the Rajya Sabha which it claimed were an insult to B R Ambedkar.

The opposition party also demanded that Shah should apologise publicly and in Parliament for the remarks.

Referring to Shah's speech in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Home Minister accused us of speaking about Ambedkar 100 times and "told us that had we remembered God so many times we could have achieved heaven seven times".

"The 'insult' caused to Babasaheb Ambedkar by Amit Shah is wrong. I demand his resignation," he told reporters in Parliament premises.

"Shah has insulted Babasaheb and the Constitution written by him," Kharge, who was flanked by other opposition leaders, charged.

"The ideology of Manusmriti and RSS shows that they do not want to give respect to Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Constitution. That is why we, all parties, demand his resignation and he should apologise to the country," the Congress chief said.

"If he continues to talk like this, there will be fire across the country if anyone insults Babasaheb Ambedkar like this. We parties would not accept such an insult of Babasaheb Ambedkar," he said.

Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said all Pradesh Congress Committees will be holding marches at all Raj Bhavans across the country on Wednesday over the Ambedkar remarks issue and also the Adani row.

In protest against the Adani mega corruption scandal and the PM’s complicity in shielding Adani, the deteriorating situation in Manipur and the Home Minister’s insult to Dr. Ambedkar, all Pradesh Congress Committees will be holding marches at all Raj Bhavans across the country…

— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) December 18, 2024

"In protest against the Adani mega corruption scandal and the PM’s complicity in shielding Adani, the deteriorating situation in Manipur and the Home Minister’s insult to Dr. Ambedkar, all Pradesh Congress Committees will be holding marches at all Raj Bhavans across the country today," Venugopal said on X.

Earlier addresesing a press conference, Congress MP Neeraj Dangi said his party demands Shah's apology for the remarks.

"In Rajya Sabha, Amit Shah Ji said that taking the name of Babasaheb Ambedkar Ji has become a fashion. This is a direct insult to the Dalits of the country and Babasaheb," he said.

Shah has shown the whole country what kind of thinking BJP leaders have, he said.

"The deprived and exploited class, which they have insulted, this is the same class which will reduce them from 240 to 40," Dangi said.

"On behalf of the Congress party, I demand that Amit Shah ji should apologise publicly and in the House. Considering what he has said about Babasaheb Ambedkar, he has lost the right to hold a constitutional post," Dangi said.

He should resign from the post of Home Minister, he said.

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.

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.