Shah insulted Ambedkar, must resign: Oppn

New Delhi: The Opposition on Wednesday seized on Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks on B R Ambedkar to corner the gov-ernment, and demanded his resignation for what they called was an insult to the architect of the Constitution.

The attack from virtually all opposition parties, including Congress, TMC, DMK, RJD, Left parties and Shiv Sena-UBT, led to adjournment of both Hous-es of Parliament and prompted the BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to come out in stout defence of Shah.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi stoutly defended Shah from the Congress' charge that he insulted B R Ambedkar in his Rajya Sabha speech, asserting that the Opposition party's "rotten ecosystem" and "malicious lies" cannot hide its misdeeds. "They are clearly stung and stunned by the facts he presented, which is why they are now in-dulging in theatrics. Sadly, for them, people know the truth," Modi said .

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O'Brien submitted a notice to move a privilege motion against Shah in the Rajya Sabha where the Home Minister had said on Tuesday evening that Congress leaders would have got a place in heaven had they chanted the name of God rather than following the fashion of repeating Ambedkar's name.

The hullabaloo in Parliament also spilled on to the streets of the national capi-tal and places as far as Maharashtra, Bihar and Tamil Nadu. In Delhi, AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal led hundreds of supporters to gather outside BJP of-fice and protest noisily amid slogans "Amit Shah maafi mango, Amit Shah sharm karo".

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, DMK chief M K Stalin, Shiv Sena-UBT chief Ud-dhav Thackeray and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav were among those who slammed Shah for his remarks.

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. Kharge said if Prime Minister Narendra Modi had any respect for Ambedkar, he should sack the home minister today itself in case he does not quit on his own. "Amit Shah's remarks on Dr Ambedkar show the party's (BJP's) arrogance and have exposed its true face," Thackeray, the former Maharashtra chief minister, said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee alleged that Shah's remarks displayed BJP's "casteist and anti-Dalit mindset".

"This is a display of BJP's CASTEIST and ANTI-DALIT mindset. If this is how they behave after being reduced to 240 seats, imagine the damage they would've inflicted if their dream of 400 seats had been realised. They'd have rewritten history to entirely erase Dr. Ambedkar's contributions," she alleged in a post on X. Stalin, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, said, "Only those who commit more sins should be concerned about 'punya' (Good deeds). Those who are concerned about the country, its people and the protection of the Constitution will only utter the name of Babasaheb Dr Ambedkar and they will have to utter only his name." "BJP leaders should hear this loud and clear, Babasaheb Ambedkar is our fashion, passion, inspiration and motivation as well," RJD leader and former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav said.