Ambedkar row: Congress to hold countrywide protest today, seeks Amit Shah's resignation

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress MPs Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Kumari Selja and KC Venugopal and other opposition MPs hold portraits of Dr. BR Ambedkar during a protest amid the Winter session of Parliament. ( Image: PTI)

After Union Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks on Dalit icon BR Ambedkar triggered a massive row, the Congress on Thursday planned a countrywide protest seeking his resignation. The Congress will protest across the country in all Pradesh Pradesh Congress Committees (PCC) at state and district headquarters, news agency ANI reported.

Amit Shah made these remarks during the ongoing Parliament winter session in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. He said, "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 gotten a place in heaven."

After triggering a massive political row with his comments, opposition parties, including Congress, TMC, DMK, RJD, Left parties, and Shiv Sena-UBT, launched an attack on Amit Shah. This led to the adjournment of both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday and prompted the BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to defend Amit Shah.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, “The ‘insult’ caused to Babasaheb Ambedkar by Amit Shah is wrong. I demand his resignation.”

“Shah has insulted Babasaheb and the Constitution written by him,” Kharge, who was flanked by other opposition leaders, said.

“The ideology of Manusmriti and RSS shows that they do not want to give respect to Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Constitution. That is why we, all parties, demand his resignation and he should apologise to the country,” the Congress chief said.

“If he continues to talk like this, there will be fire across the country if anyone insults Babasaheb Ambedkar like this. We parties would not accept such an insult of Babasaheb Ambedkar,” he said.

The chaos of the parliament spilled on the streets of the national capital along with Maharashtra, Bihar and Tamil Nadu. In Delhi, AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal and party workers staged a protest outside the BJP headquarters on Wednesday amid slogans "Amit Shah maafi mango, Amit Shah sharm karo".

To address the controversy surrounding his comments, Amit Shah held a press conference in Delhi where he accused the opposition party of misrepresenting his remarks in Parliament and adopting an anti-Ambedkar stance. Shah said, “My statements were misrepresented. Congress spreads fake news. I can never speak against Ambedkar ji.”

"The way Congress has distorted comments made in Parliament is extremely condemnable," Amit Shah added.

Responding to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge requesting his resignation, Shah said that he would offer his resignation if it made him happy, but asserting that Congress would remain in opposition for 15 more years.