The government and the Opposition squared off over the Father of India’s Constitution and the country’s first prime minister on Wednesday.
After the Congress-led Opposition protested B.R. Ambedkar’s posters, demanding Amit Shah's resignation for what they called his insult of the Dalit leader who was key to the drafting of the Constitution.
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 Union 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 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.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress MPs Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Kumari Selja and KC Venugopal and other opposition MPs hold portraits of Dr. BR Ambedkar during a protest amid the Winter session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Wednesday, December 18, 2024. PTI picture
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.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi backed Shah with a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) targeting the Congress over Ambedkar.
“If the Congress and its rotten ecosystem think their malicious lies can hide their misdeeds of several years, especially their insult towards Dr. Ambedkar, they are gravely mistaken!” Modi wrote in a thread on X.
“The people of India have seen time and again how one Party, led by one dynasty, has indulged in every possible dirty trick to obliterate the legacy of Dr. Ambedkar and humiliate the SC/ST communities,” he said.
“The list of the Congress' sins towards Dr. Ambedkar includes: Getting him defeated in elections not once but twice. Pandit Nehru campaigning against him and making his loss a prestige issue. Denying him a Bharat Ratna. Denying his portrait a place of pride in Parliament’s Central Hall.
“Congress can try as they want but they can’t deny that the worst massacres against SC/ST Communities have happened under their regimes,” he added. “For years, they sat in power but did nothing substantive to empower the SC and ST communities.
“In Parliament, HM @AmitShah Ji exposed the Congress’ dark history of insulting Dr. Ambedkar and ignoring the SC/ST Communities. 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! It is due to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar that we are what we are!”
He added: “Our Government has worked tirelessly to fulfil the vision of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar over the last decade. Take any sector - be it removing 25 crore people from poverty, strengthening the SC/ST Act, our Government’s flagship programmes like Swachh Bharat, PM Awas Yojana, Jal Jeevan Mission, Ujjwala Yojana and more, each of them has touched the lives of the poor and marginalised.
“Our Government has worked to develop Panchteerth, the five iconic places associated with Dr. Ambedkar. For decades, there was a pending issue on land for Chaitya Bhoomi. Not only did our Government resolve the issue, I have gone to pray there as well. We have also developed 26, Alipur Road in Delhi, where Dr. Ambedkar spent his last years. The house where he lived in London has also been acquired by the Government. When it comes to Dr. Ambedkar, our respect and reverence is absolute.”
Union minister Kiren Rijiju hit said the Opposition was distorting the home minister's comments.
"... a small clip of Shah's Rajya Sabha speech was under circulation, distorting what he said. It was wrong. I condemn it," Rijiju told reporters.
He asserted that Shah had clearly said the Congress insulted Babasaheb when he was alive. "To wash their sins, they are now taking the name of Ambedkar for political and electoral gains," Rijiu said.
He added that the present Modi government has done a lot to honour Ambedkar. "We respect Ambedkar," the Parliamentary Affairs minister alleged.
Enter Jawaharlal Nehru
The Congress also hit back at the BJP for accusing Jawaharlal Nehru of curbing freedom of speech through the Constitution's first amendment.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh dubbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah as "master 'distorians'" persistently attacking their "favourite target".
Both Modi and Shah had attacked the Congress during their speeches in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, respectively, for curbing freedom of speech through the first constitutional amendment.
The opposition party asked whether it was too much to expect any adherence to truth and facts from the two BJP leaders.
"Articles 19(2), 15(4), and 31(b) were introduced into the Constitution of India from June 18, 1951, through the First Amendment. A Select Committee had examined the Bill'. In para 2 of his dissent note Syama Prasad Mookerjee had written: 'The addition of the word 'reasonable' before 'restrictions' in 19(2) is a very wholesome change," Ramesh posted on X.
"It makes Article 19(2) justiciable and I do not wish to minimise the importance of this change in the protection of civil liberty in this country," he said.
Ramesh said the word "reasonable" had, in fact, been added by Nehru himself.
"Article 19(2) followed a letter written by Sardar Patel to Nehru on June 3, 1950. Article 15(4)followed the Supreme Court's striking down of reservations in public educational institutions through the Champakam Dorairajan case in then Madras. Article 31(b) was the result of the Supreme Court striking down zamindari abolition laws in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other states," he said.
"Both those master distorians-- the PM and the HM -- were silent on this background to the first Amendment as they attacked their favourite target," Ramesh said and asked if it is too much to expect any adherence to truth and facts from this duo,” he added.
