New Delhi: Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday accused the Congress of twisting facts and distorting his comments on B R Ambedkar in the Rajya Sabha, asserting that it launched the malicious campaign after the discussion on Constitution “established” the opposition party as being “anti-Ambedkar and anti-reservation”.
Addressing a press conference, Shah said the Congress was left with no answer following the discussion in Parliament. The party, he added, has adopted the tactic of misrepresenting and distorting statements, including those of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and then creating an uproar to mislead people.
He asserted that his address in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday was clear and without any confusion, and is on the record of the House. He said he comes from a party and an ideology that can never insult the architect of the Constitution and his ideas, not “even in dreams”.
“What the Congress has done is extremely condemnable. Why did it happen? It happened because BJP leaders spoke on how the BJP governments have always upheld the Constitution and propagated its values. They established with facts that the Congress is anti-Ambedkar, anti-Constitution and anti-reservation,” Shah told reporters here.
Shah said the Congress showed a small portion of his speech with an aim to spread confusion.
“From Pandit Nehru to the fourth generation (of his family), the Congress family has consistently sidelined Babasaheb Dr Ambedkar and opposed him,” he said, alleging that the opposition party was also anti-OBC.
Asked about Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s demand for his resignation, Shah said in a lighter vein that he will quit if this makes the opposition leader happy but the fact is that it will not end his troubles. He has to remain in his seat, a reference to the Congress being in opposition, for 15 more years, the minister said.
Referring to Kharge’s Dalit background as that of Ambedkar, Shah said the Congress president should not have been part of this malicious campaign involving India’s first law minister but had acted under “pressure” from Rahul Gandhi.
Asked if his comments have given the opposition INDIA bloc, which has been a divided house, an opportunity to join forces, he said parties often come together when a “wrong narrative” is floated but things change when people express their opinion.
He said that the people’s verdicts have frequently gone against the opposition, prompting these parties to spread confusion to mislead the masses by sometimes blaming Electronic Voting Machines and at times living in delusion that they had won.
Shah’s press conference at the BJP headquarters capped a day of frenetic political moves from both sides on his comments, as the ruling party’s top rung leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Cabinet colleagues, rallied to his defence after the Congress and other opposition parties launched a blistering attack on him.
The Congress had on Tuesday night shared a clip of Shah’s speech to accuse him of insulting Ambedkar, a respected figure and an icon especially among Dalits.
“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 in all seven lives),” Shah had said.
Shah had also said the BJP is happy that the Congress is taking Ambedkar’s name but it should also speak about its real sentiments towards him, and went on to narrate incidents where the opposition party had denied the respect due to him.
The BJP launched a counter-campaign, sharing a bigger portion of Shah’s address to highlight that it was aimed at exposing the Congress’ repeated insults to Ambedkar and neglect of his legacy compared to the ruling party’s initiatives to preserve and promote his contributions and ideas.
Flanked by senior BJP leaders, including party president and Union minister J P Nadda and his other ministerial colleagues Ashwini Vaishnaw, Kiren Rijiju and Piyush Goyal, at the press conference, Shah said his party will explore all legal options available inside and outside Parliament.
He was asked if he was planning action against leaders Kharge and Gandhi for their alleged attempts to misrepresent his comments.
Shah urged the media to share his full comments and reiterated a series of the BJP’s charges against the Congress, including its campaign to defeat Ambedkar in elections, not giving him Bharat Ratna and disallowing memorials to him, to project the opposition party as inimical to his legacy.
The Congress had during the recent elections used Artificial Intelligence to distort his comments and misrepresent Modi’s remarks, he alleged.
The Congress also insulted VD Savarkar, crushed constitutional values by imposing Emergency, insulted the judiciary, humiliated soldiers who laid down their lives, and even gave away the land of India to other countries, he said.
During the Congress’ rule, no memorial to Ambedkar was built, he said, adding that the Modi government developed five places, considered sacred by his admirers, as “panchteerth”.
“Whenever the BJP has been in power, it propagated the principles of Ambedkar. The party worked to strengthen reservation,” Shah added.
Accusing Shah of disrespecting the architect of the Constitution, Kharge said the home minister should apologise to the nation for the “insult” to Ambedkar during his speech.
Kharge said if PM Modi has any respect left for Ambedkar he should sack the home minister in case he does not quit on his own.
