"If there's no resignation then there will be protests": Kharge over Amit Shah's remark on Ambedkar
Dec 18, 2024
New Delhi [India], December 18 : After a massive political row erupted over Amit Shah's remarks on BR Ambedkar, Rajya Sabha LoP and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday demanded Home Minister's resignation threatening nationwide protests.
Kharge said that 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.
"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. Amit Shah should be removed from the cabinet immediately. If there is no resignation then there will be protests all over the country. Babasaheb Dr Ambedkar belongs to everyone because he used to talk about every person of the society including Dalits, oppressed and deprived people. He had sympathy for everyone," the Congress chief posted on X.
The Congress President condemned Shah's statement saying that the BJP-led NDA government don't believe in the Consitution.
"If Narendra Modi has even a little respect for Babasaheb, then he should dismiss Amit Shah from his post before midnight. The people of BJP-RSS do not believe in the Constitution. These people believe in Manusmriti because it is in that that it is said and written about heaven, hell and castes," he said.
Kharge further highlighted the tweets done by PM Modi supporting Shah's remarks.
"I am surprised that when a person is saying such derogatory things about Babasaheb on TV, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not even call him out and stop him. On the contrary, he made 6 tweets to support the Home Minister. Whereas a person who spoke so insultingly about Ambedkar ji should have been removed from the cabinet. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are both close friends, so both hide each other's sins," the Congress chief said.
He further claimed that the BJP-RSS and their political ancestors never accepted or respected the Constitution.
"BJP-RSS and their political ancestors have never respected the Constitution. Their political ancestors never accepted the Constitution, and burnt its copies. These people did not even adopt the tricolour. They said that the Constitution does not have the words of Manusmriti, so they will not accept it. In protest against this, they also burnt the effigies of Nehru and Ambedkar," Kharge said.
Meanwhile, Amit Shah in Wednesday responded to Kharge's call for his resignation, saying it won't make a difference to the Congress party's fate. Shah claimed that the Congress party will remain in the opposition for the next 15 years, regardless of his resignation.
"Kharge ji is asking for my resignation. If it would have made him happy, I would have resigned, but it will not end his problems because he will have to sit in the same place (in the opposition) for the next 15 years. My resignation will not change that," Shah said, addressing a press conference in the national capital.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi defended Amit Shah's remarks on Babasaheb Ambedkar and said that Shah exposed the Congress' dark history of insulting Ambedkar after which they were clearly stung and stunned by the facts he presented.