Punjab CM should resign immediately: Athawale on Ambedkar statue vandalism

National President of the Republican Party of India and Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Ramdas Athawale on Thursday took a jibe at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government said that the incident where the statue of BR Ambedkar was disrespected reflected a complete failure of Punjab's government.

Athawale had held a press conference in Amritsar and further demanded that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann should take moral responsibility and resign immediately.

He further said that the incident of the vandalism incident should be dealt with strict legal action according to the provisions of the Constitution. 

Athawale further mentioned that in Amritsar, on the occasion of Republic Day, the local administration had made a significant mistake by placing stairs near BR Ambedkar's statue for the entire day. Immediate legal action should be taken against the responsible individuals for this negligence.

It is worth noting that on January 29, Athawale visited Heritage Street in Amritsar to pay tribute to BR Ambedkar and gather detailed information regarding the incident of vandalism against his statue.

Athawale had held a meeting with the Police Commissioner of Amritsar, Gurpreet Bhullar, the District Officer of Amritsar, Mahesh Sahni, and the Municipal Commissioner of Amritsar, Gurjot Singh Aulakh, along with other local administrative officials.

In this meeting, a thorough discussion was held about the entire incident, and it was decided that strict action would be taken against those responsible for disrespecting Ambedkar's statue.

Athawale further stated that any attempt to damage the statue of the revered Constitution-maker, BR Ambedkar was highly condemnable. He further remarked that this incident reflects the negligence of the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab.

This comes in after a youth on Republic Day vandalised the life-size statue of Ambedkar in Amritsar by climbing atop it and striking it with a hammer. A video of the incident had gone viral on social media.