Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge stepped up his party’s attack on Amit Shah late on Wednesday over the Union Home Minister’s controversial comment in Parliament that it has “become the fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar”. Kharge called the comments “deplorable” and accused the ruling BJP of disrespecting the Constitution.
He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to drop Shah from the Cabinet: “If the Prime Minister has any respect for Babasaheb Ambedkar, he should drop Shah. Instead of correcting him, the PM is defending the insult to a Dalit hero. They do not believe in the Constitution.”
Kharge also drew attention to Modi’s angry defense of Shah on social media, where the Prime Minister attacked the “rotten political ecosystem” of his opponents. In a series of six posts on X, Modi said, “If the Congress and its rotten ecosystem believe malicious lies would camouflage their misdeeds, particularly their insult to Dr. Ambedkar, they are sadly mistaken.”
Kharge reacted to Modi’s tweets and asked if such a defence was needed. “If somebody makes derogatory remarks against B.R. Ambedkar, he should be kicked out of the Cabinet. But they are friends, protecting each other’s wrongdoings,” he said.
Shah’s comments, made during the conclusion of a four-day debate on the Constitution in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, sparked outrage among Congress and other opposition parties. His statement, delivered sarcastically, suggested that the opposition might gain a place in heaven for their frequent references to Ambedkar.
The backlash was not late in coming, as Kharge said Shah’s remarks proved that the BJP and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, were not working in the interest of the nation. A battery of Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi, also joined the chorus of condemnation, seeking an apology from Shah. Rahul Gandhi said Ambedkar was the architect of the Constitution, adding, “The country will not tolerate his insult. the Home Minister should apologize!”
The Samajwadi Party also expressed its discontent, with Akhilesh Yadav commenting that Shah’s remarks reflected the anxiety of the BJP over the struggles of the marginalized sections of society. “Ambedkar is revered among many deprived sections of society. The BJP’s nervousness is evident in such statements,” he said.
The Trinamool Congress of Mamata Banerjee also reacted sharply to Shah’s comments, with the party MP Derek O’Brien filing a privilege notice against the Home Minister for insulting the Dalit leader. Banerjee termed the remarks as indicative of the “casteist and anti-Dalit mindset” of the BJP and an insult to the millions who looked up to Ambedkar.
Amidst the furore, Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah had met Kharge and Rahul Gandhi earlier in the day. Sources said the meeting had nothing to do with the Ambedkar remarks but related to the appointment of the next chief of the National Human Rights Commission.
