NEW DELHI — 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
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.
