Amit Shah's remarks show old mentality of BJP, says B R Ambedkar's grandson

Pune: Babasaheb Ambedkar's grandson Prakash Ambedkar alleged on Wednesday that Union Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks on the father of the Constitution reflected the BJP's "same old mentality".

Several MPs of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc staged a protest in Parliament premises demanding Shah's apology for his remarks on B R Ambedkar which they claimed were an insult to B R Ambedkar.

The Congress also demanded that Shah apologise publicly and in Parliament.

"Before the BJP came into existence, its forerunners Jan Sangh and RSS had opposed Babasaheb while the Constitution was being adopted," Prakash Ambedkar, who heads Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, told reporters in Pune.

He said Shah's statement has brought the same old mentality of BJP to the fore.

"There is nothing new in the statement. They are not able to execute their old plans. Not because of Congress, but because of Babasaheb Ambedkar and they will continue to sulk," said Prakash Ambedkar.

Congress general secretary-in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh had shared a video snippet on X from Shah's speech in Rajya Sabha.

"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)," Shah had said, taking a swipe at the opposition.

Prakash Ambedkar, meanwhile, demanded a Rs 1 crore compensation to the kin of Somnath Suryawanshi who allegedly died in judicial custody after he was arrested in connection with violence in Parbhani city over the desecration of the replica of the Constitution.