Picture : ANI / X
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien has submitted a privilege notice against Home Minister Amit Shah over his remarks on B R Ambedkar, a source said.
According to the source, the notice has been filed under Rule 187 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Rajya Sabha.
The notice also quoted the statement the home minister made in the Upper House on Tuesday during his reply to a debate on the 75 years of the Constitution.
Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha witnessed protests from the Congress and some other opposition parties over Shah’s alleged insult of Ambedkar, resulting in both the Houses being adjourned.
Criticising the Congress for repeatedly taking the name of B R Ambedkar, Shah had said in his remarks that if they taken God’s name so many times they could have earned a place in heaven.
TMC MPs also raised slogans in the Upper House, and staged a walkout accusing the government of insulting Ambedkar. “The kind of statement that the home minister made on Ambedkar ji is an insult to the nation. Babasaheb has given us our Constitution, and the same Babasaheb was insulted by the home minister,” TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev said after party MPs walked out. “What would have this party done to Dalits and Tribal had they gotten 400 seats?” she wondered. Later she tweeted on X
.@AmitShah‘s tone, tenor & arrogant words have insulted Dr. Ambedkar.
BJP does not stand for social justice towards SC/ST and their real face has been thoroughly exposed in the Home ministers speech.
PM @narendramodi ji defends the indefensible but people of India will not… https://t.co/kJbtM6Wj7E
— Sushmita Dev সুস্মিতা দেব (@SushmitaDevAITC) December 18, 2024
“West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has strongly condemned the statement. The prime minister is trying to cover up the sins of Home Minister Amit Shah. The prime minister should give up his ‘anti-Dalit’ mindset,” she added.
“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.
The mask has fallen!
As Parliament reflects on 75 glorious years of the Constitution, HM @AmitShah chose to TARNISH this occasion with DEROGATORY remarks against Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, that too in the temple of Democracy.
This is a display of BJP’s CASTEIST and ANTI-DALIT…
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) December 18, 2024
Shah also said the BJP is happy that the Congress is taking Ambedkar’s name but the party should also speak about its real sentiments towards him.
“How appropriate is it for you to use the name of a person for vote bank politics whom you used to oppose?” Shah asked Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
