New Delhi: Amid widespread condemnation and the opposition’s demands for his resignation following his remarks in the Rajya Sabha on B.R. Ambedkar, Union home minister Amit Shah accused the Congress of “twisting and distorting” his statements and urged the media to present his statement in its entirety, even as Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge demanded his dismissal from the cabinet by midnight.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday (December 18), Shah, who was flanked by Union ministers Kiren Rijiju and J.P. Nadda, in turn accused the Congress of being “anti-Ambedkar”, “anti-reservation” and “insulting Savarkar”, saying he came from a party that “can never insult Ambedkar”.
The BJP’s bid to control the narrative comes after its reverses in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which saw the opposition running a campaign to “save the constitution” and claiming that the saffron party aimed to win 400 seats so it could change the constitution and weaken reservations.
“From yesterday, the way in which the Congress has twisted and distorted facts is highly condemnable. The speakers from the BJP showed during the constitution debate with facts how our governments have always protected the constitution. This brought to light how the Congress is an anti-Ambedkar, anti-reservation and anti-constitution party,” said Shah.
“The Congress insulted Savarkar. By imposing the Emergency, the Congress blew the constitution into smithereens. They have insulted the courts and the armed forces, and the act of breaking India into different factions was also done during Congress governments.
“When all these facts were made clear, the Congress once again resorted to its old tactic of distorting and twisting facts, and presenting non-truths as truths to mislead society and divide society.”
Shah’s press conference came after widespread condemnation over his statement in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. While speaking in the upper house during the constitution debate, Shah had said:
“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 now to say ‘Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar’. Had you taken God’s name so many times, you would have got a place in heaven.]”
Following a clip of Shah’s speech being widely circulated on social media, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself stepped in to defend Shah in a series of X posts and said that the home minister had “exposed the Congress’s dark history of insulting Dr. Ambedkar and ignoring the SC/ST Communities.”
Modi’s defence came even as parliament on Wednesday saw opposition members holding protests demanding his public apology. Both houses also saw uproar over his remarks, leading to adjournments during the proceedings.
Kharge demands Shah’s dismissal by midnight
Meanwhile, Kharge, who had on Tuesday demanded Shah’s resignation, doubled down on Wednesday and in a press conference said that if Modi respected Ambedkar, then Shah should be dismissed by midnight.
“They don’t believe in the constitution. When they speak about heaven and hell, they show they believe in the Manusmriti, which speaks about actions that take you to heaven and hell. This is the language that Modi’s cabinet ministers speak. This is also spoken by their gurus like Golwalkar and others. They have to follow the rules of their school,” said Kharge.
“They keep saying that the Congress insulted Ambedkar. I have spoken in parliament of how they try to demean the Congress and Nehru. But I was surprised that a person who speaks like this, and this is being telecast live on television in the country, the prime minister instead of pulling him up and questioning him, Modi defends him with six tweets.
“What was the need? If someone speaks against Babasaheb, he should have dismissed him from the cabinet. But both are close friends and support each other’s misdeeds.
“We want Amit Shah to apologise. If Modi has even a little respect for Babasaheb, he should be dismissed from the cabinet by midnight. If a person becomes a minister by taking oath on the constitution and then insults the constitution, he has no right to remain in the cabinet, only then will the people of this country remain quiet. Otherwise people will be ready to raise slogans for Babasaheb and are even ready to give their lives for Babasaheb,” he added.
In response to a question on Kharge’s demand for his resignation, Shah however, said that even if he were to resign, the Congress president will have to remain in opposition for the next 15 years.
“Kharge ji is asking for my resignation. If it makes him happy, I may give it also, but he will still have to sit in opposition for 15 years. My resignation will not serve any purpose,” said Shah at his press conference.