Congress demands Amit Shah's apology for 'Ambedkar remark'

'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.

New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday alleged that Home Minister Amit 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 B R Ambedkar and demanded an apology from him.

Congress general secretary-in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared a video snippet on X from Shah's speech in the upper house.

"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 said, taking a swipe at the opposition.

In a post on X, Ramesh said, "Amit Shah has said something very disgusting. This shows that the BJP and RSS leaders have a lot of hatred for Baba Saheb Ambedkar."

"The hatred is such that they are annoyed even by his name. These are the same people whose ancestors used to burn the effigies of Baba Saheb, who themselves used to talk about changing the Constitution given by Baba Saheb," the Congress leader said.

Follow LIVE updates from the Winter Session of the Parliament

As the people taught them a lesson, they are now annoyed with those who take Baba Saheb's name, he said.

"Shameful! Amit Shah should apologise to the country for this," Ramesh asserted.

The home minister attacked the Congress in the Rajya Sabha, saying the party treated the Constitution as the "private fiefdom" of one family and "played fraud" with Parliament.

Concluding a two-day debate on the "Glorious Journey of 75 Years of the Constitution of India", Shah ripped into the Congress for its appeasement politics and claimed that the party wanted to breach the 50 per cent quota limit to provide reservation to Muslims.

He also asked the Congress if it supported the Muslim personal law and alleged that the party never worked for the welfare of the backward classes. Shah asserted that the BJP has already brought in a common civil code (Uniform Civil Code) in Uttarakhand and will implement it in all states.