Ambedkar row: Kharge takes 'Manusmriti' dig at Shah, demands resignation

Stepping up his attack on Amit Shah over his remarks on B R Ambedkar, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said if Prime Minister Narendra Modi has any respect for Babsaheb he should sack the home minister today itself in case he does quit on his own. 

Accusing Shah of disrespecting the architect of the Constitution, Kharge said the home minister should apologise to the nation for the insult he caused to Ambedkar during his speech in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. 

"I want to tell the PM that if he respects Babsaheb, he should immediate remove Amit Shah from his Cabinet," Kharge told a press conference here.    "Amit Shah's remarks on Ambedkar are condemnable, he has insulted the Dalit hero, whom they consider as revered. Amit Shah must apologise to the people of the country," Kharge said.

 

He also attacked the prime minister, saying that instead of telling Shah that his remarks were wrong, Modi is defending his home minister. 

An MP or a minister takes the pledge of the Constitution, and if he disrespects it, he should be removed from the Cabinet immediately, Kharge said, adding that people will otherwise register their grievances, raise slogans and are ready to give their lives for Babasaheb. 

Criticising the Congress for repeatedly taking the name of B R Ambedkar, Shah had said in his remarks on Tuesday that had they taken God's name so many times they could have earned a place in heaven. 

"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. 

Shah also said the BJP is happy that the Congress is taking Ambedkar's name but the party should also speak about its real sentiments towards him. 

Shah pointed out how Ambedkar had to resign from the first Cabinet citing his disagreement with the then Congress-led government's policies including Article 370. 

The home minister also said most of the memorials of Ambedkar were built when the BJP came to power. 

"How appropriate is it for you to use the name of a person for vote bank politics whom you used to oppose?" Shah had asked Kharge.  (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)