Opposition stages strong protest in LS over Amit Shah’s ‘obscene’ Ambedkar remarks | WATCH

New Delhi: Opposition MPs, including Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, staged a protest in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday against Union Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks during the Rajya Sabha debate on the Constitution. The MPs accused Shah of insulting Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's legacy and asked him to apologise. 

The MPs lined up in front of the steps of the Makar Dwar of Parliament carrying images of Ambedkar.

They raised slogans such as 'Jai Bhim', 'Sangh ka Vidhan nahi chalega' and 'Amit Shah maafi maango'.

MPs of the Congress, DMK, RJD, the Left, AAP, among others, participated in the protest.

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.

RJD leader Manoj Jha joined the protest, condemning Shah's statement as "obscene." "You should listen to the whole statement, it is like an obscene statement, we don't want a paradise, this land should become a paradise, the same was the thought of BR Ambedkar. What he had in his heart has come to his tongue," Jha said. He further demanded that Shah apologize to the nation and Parliament for his remarks, which he claimed reflected Shah's true sentiments.

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.

Congress president Kharge had also lashed out at Shah, saying the "insult" of Babasaheb by the home minister has once again proven that the BJP-RSS were against the tricolour, their forefathers opposed the Ashok Chakra and the people of the Sangh Parivar wanted to implement Manusmriti instead of the Constitution of India from the very first day.

"Babasaheb Dr Ambedkar Ji did not allow this to happen, that is why there is so much hatred towards him, Kharge had said.

"The ministers of the Modi government should understand carefully that for crores of people like me, Babasaheb Ambedkar is no less than God... He is and will always be the messiah of Dalits, tribals, backward classes, minorities and the poor, Kharge had said in a post in Hindi on X.

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.
(with agency inputs)