Parliament adjourned till Thu amid uproar over Shah's remarks on Ambedkar
This story was originally published at 15:32 IST on 18 December 2024
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NEW DELHI - Proceedings in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha were adjourned till Thursday amid uproar by Opposition parties over Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks on B.R. Ambedkar. Claiming that Shah's remarks insulted Ambedkar, the opposition parties demanded an apology from the home minister.
While participating in a discussion on the 75-year journey of the Constitution in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Shah said it had become fashionable to keep taking the name of Ambedkar. "It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. If they took God's name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven," Shah had said.
On Wednesday, proceedings in both the Houses of Parliament commenced with uproar, with Opposition parties raising slogans against Amit Shah. As Opposition members didn't relent, proceedings in both the Houses were adjourned till 1400 IST. When the Houses reconvened, the Opposition stuck to its demand and resorted to sloganeering. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar adjourned the proceedings for the day in their respective houses. Both the Houses were adjourned without transacting any business.
The Rajya Sabha was scheduled to take up discussion on Appropriation (No.3) Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. The Banking Law (Amendment) Bill 2024, and the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill 2024 were also listed in the Upper House. The Winter Session of Parliament is scheduled to end on Friday.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said Shah's remarks were against the Constitution. "They were saying from the beginning that they would change the Constitution. They are against Ambedkar ji and his ideology. Their only work is to finish the Constitution and the work done by Ambedkar ji. The entire country knows this," Gandhi said.
Congress President and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge demanded Home Minister Shah's resignation.
Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress submitted a privilege motion notice against Amit Shah to the Rajya Sabha secretary general over his remarks against Ambedkar.
Defending Shah's remarks, Union minister Kiren Rijiju said in the Rajya Sabha that the home minister's remarks clearly showed their reverence for Ambedkar. Rijiju criticised the Congress party for insulting Ambedkar.
"Yesterday, Home Minister Amit Shah clearly showed our sense of reverence in his speech. The Congress party insulted Ambedkar ji when he was alive...the Congress party did not award him with Bharat Ratna for so many years. The Congress party insulted Baba Saheb and defeated him in 1952 in an election under a conspiracy. I am a Buddhist and a person who follows the path shown by Baba Saheb. After 71 years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made me, a Buddhist, the law minister of the country," Rijiju said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also defended Shah, saying the home minister exposed the Congress' dark history of insulting Ambedkar and ignoring the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities. "They (Congress) are clearly stung and stunned by the facts he presented, which is why they are now indulging in theatrics! Sadly, for them, people know the truth!," Modi said on X, formerly Twitter.
"If the Congress and its rotten ecosystem think their malicious lies can hide their misdeeds of several years, especially their insult towards Dr. Ambedkar, they are gravely mistaken! The people of India have seen time and again how one Party, led by one dynasty, has indulged in every possible dirty trick to obliterate the legacy of Dr. Ambedkar and humiliate the SC/ST communities," Modi said. End
Reported by Kuldeep Singh
Edited by Avishek Dutta
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