Ambedkar remark row: Kharge submits privilege notice against Amit Shah

He said on December 17, Shah during his reply in the Rajya Sabha on the discussion on 'Glorious journey of 75 years of the Constitution of India', had referred to Ambedkar which was 'insulting and defamatory'.

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday submitted a notice of breach of privilege against Home Minister Amit Shah for his remarks on B R Ambedkar, which were a “clear cut insult”.

In his letter to Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, he said the wordings and the tone and tenor of Shah’s remarks were “clearly satirical and made in a very bad taste”.

The Opposition had taken umbrage over Shah’s remarks in Rajya Sabha on December 17. “It has now become a fashion to say, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. If they take the name of God this many times, they will get heaven in seven births," Shah had said.

Follow LIVE updates from the Winter Session of the Parliament

“To use the name of B R Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution of India, is a clear cut insult to Dr Ambedkar. These remarks which have been made on the floor of the House are outright derogatory in nature and affront to Dr Ambedkar,” Kharge wrote.

Urging Dhankhar to initiate proceedings against Shah, Kharge said any misconduct in the House or casting reflections and making defamatory statements constitute a breach of privilege and contempt of the House.

On Wednesday, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O’Brien too submitted a notice of breach of privilege against Shah.

In his notice, O’Brien has said that the statements made by Shah prima facie constitute a breach of the Council as they undermine the dignity of the members of Rajya Sabha by making comments about B R Ambedkar and members who used his name respectfully in the debate on Constitution.

“Dr Ambedkar is a towering figure in Indian history, whose contributions as the chief architect of the Indian Constitution are universally acknowledged and celebrated. By trivialising the invocation of his name in debates,. Shah’s statement shows grave disrespect not only to Dr. Ambedkar but also to the principles and values he stood for,” he added.

O’Brien said Shah’s remarks also implies that MPs who respect and draw inspiration from Ambedkar’s vision are indulging in frivolity or fashion, which is both derogatory and contemptuous. Such disregard for the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of our Constitution impinges upon the dignity of Parliament, he added.

“Dr Ambedkar was the driving force behind India’s Parliamentary democracy and a former member of the Council of States,” he added in his letter on Wednesday.