Shiv Sena (Thackeray) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday sought action against Home Minister Amit Shah for his statement on Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in the Rajya Sabha. While addressing a press conference in Mumbai, the former Maharashtra chief minister said Shah would not have dared to make remarks about Ambedkar without BJP and RSS backing.
" The manner in which BJP is insulting someone who gave us the Constitution is not acceptable to us. Will BJP and RSS take action against Amit Shah? Or did they tell Amit to say this?...Is this acceptable to other parties that have extended support to Amit Shah, be it Chandrababu Naidu or Nitish Kumar or Ajit Pawar? Will Ramdas Athawale continue to be in their cabinet even after this?," he said during the press conference.
Yesterday, the way the country's Home Minister took the name of Maharashtra's son Ambedkar and said that taking Ambedkar's name is a fashion, the hypocrisy of BJP has come to the fore, he added.
After continuous attacks on Jawaharlal Nehru, now they dared to turn to Ambedkar, Thackeray said.
Will Union Minister Ramdas Athawale now resign, he asked. Thackeray also attacked Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, asking will he break the alliance over the issue.
PM Modi should take action against Shah or resign, he demanded.
Shah should apologise: Rahul
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said the country will not tolerate Ambedkar's insult and demanded that Shah should apologise for his remarks in the Rajya Sabha. Several MPs of the INDIA bloc, including Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, staged a protest in Parliament premises demanding Shah's apology for his remarks which they claimed were an insult to B R Ambedkar.
Sharing pictures from the protest, Gandhi said in a Facebook post in Hindi, "Baba Saheb is the architect of the Constitution, a great man who gave direction to the country. The country will not tolerate his insult or the insult to the Constitution framed by him. Home Minister should apologize!"
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also shared pictures from the protest on X.
"One gets rights by taking the name of Ambedkar ji. Taking the name of Ambedkar ji is a symbol of human dignity. Ambedkar ji's name is a symbol of self-respect of crores of Dalits and deprived people," Priyanka Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.
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.
PM Modi hits back at Congress
On the other side, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stoutly defended Shah from the Opposition's charge that he insulted BR Ambedkar in his speech in the Rajya Sabha, asserting that the Home Minister in fact exposed the party's "dark history of insulting" the architect of the Constitution, leaving the main opposition "stung and stunned".
"They are clearly stung and stunned by the facts he presented, which is why they are now indulging in theatrics. Sadly, for them, people know the truth," PM Modi said in a series of posts on X.
When it comes to Ambedkar, his government's respect and reverence are absolute, the prime minister asserted.
In a searing attack on the Congress, Modi said if the party and its "rotten ecosystem" think their "malicious lies" can hide their misdeeds of several years, especially their insults towards Ambedkar, they are gravely mistaken.
(With PTI inputs)
Also read: PM Modi meets Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge at his office in Parliament
