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Amit Shah said that his statement in Parliament had been twisted and distorted by the Congress, adding that he comes from a party that can never disrespect Dr BR Ambedkar
Union home minister Amit Shah speaks during the Constitution debate in the Rajya Sabha in the winter session of Parliament, in New Delhi on December 17. (Image: PTI)
It is not every day that Prime Minister Narendra Modi leads the charge against the Congress with a series of strong social media posts, and union home minister Amit Shah does a press conference within hours. The reason is that the Bharatiya Janata Party has learnt its lessons this year.
The party is clear that it won’t sit around if attacked on the matrix of Bhim Rao Ambedkar, the Constitution, or reservations. Amit Shah said the BJP will explore all legal options inside and outside Parliament against the Congress.
Lessons from Lok Sabha polls
The BJP’s top brass has decided to aggressively counter such issues after the perception that it did not react strongly enough against the “Constitution is in danger” narrative of the Congress during the April-June Lok Sabha elections this year. The idea now is not to let any “fake narrative” on Ambedkar, the Constitution, or reservations catch the imagination of the people.
That explains why no less than the Prime Minister led the charge after the Congress accused home minister Shah of “disrespecting” Ambedkar during his speech in the Rajya Sabha. Shah himself held a press conference to debunk the Congress charges. This is a markedly aggressive departure from the Lok Sabha elections when the BJP’s tally fell to 240 seats, largely due to the “anti-Constitution” narrative of the Congress. A morphed video of Amit Shah on reservations had also surfaced.
This time, BJP leaders have taken umbrage at the Congress propagating a “selectively edited” 11-second video from Shah’s speech in Parliament on Tuesday to “maliciously” claim that he had insulted Ambedkar. The Congress held a press conference led by its president Mallikarjun Kharge, who said Shah should apologise or tender his resignation; otherwise, there would be nationwide protests by the Congress. The BJP says the full video of Shah’s speech makes it clear that he was mentioning how the Congress is chanting Ambedkar’s name today but never followed his ideology.
The Prime Minister set the tone earlier on Wednesday by putting out a series of strong posts on social media site X, accusing the Congress and “its rotten ecosystem” of spreading “malicious lies” against Shah. Modi also listed out instances where the Congress had “insulted” Ambedkar, including ensuring his defeat twice in elections, Jawaharlal Nehru campaigning against him, Ambedkar not being given the Bharat Ratna, and his portrait not being put up in the Central Hall of Parliament till the Congress ruled the country.
Amit Shah’s strong counter
Amit Shah was flanked by four union ministers, including BJP president JP Nadda as well as Kiren Rijiju, Piyush Goyal, and Ashwini Vaishnaw, at the press conference on Tuesday evening, signifying the BJP’s intent and seriousness to take the issue head-on. “Congress has twisted facts, and it is highly condemnable…They want to mislead people by portraying untruths as truth,” Shah said.
He said Congress leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi gave the Bharat Ratna to themselves, and Ambedkar got a Bharat Ratna only when a BJP-supported government was in power. Shah said the Congress also did not celebrate Ambedkar’s 100th birth anniversary. The home minister said Jawaharlal Nehru did not respect Ambedkar as he let him resign from the cabinet and also did not allow Ambedkar’s memorial to come up.
Shah said the BJP also declared celebrating Constitution Day as respect for Ambedkar. “My statement in Rajya Sabha was twisted and distorted by Congress. They have earlier also propagated edited and AI-morphed videos of PM Modi and myself. I come from a party that can never disrespect Ambedkar—be it the Jana Sangh or the BJP. We have strengthened reservations while Congress has always objected to reservations,” Amit Shah said.
The home minister said his statement is in the Rajya Sabha records, and the media should take the full statement to the people. Shah also appealed to Kharge that he should not support such a campaign by Congress “under the pressure of Rahul Gandhi”, as Kharge too comes from a backward community. Shah said the Congress was propagating a shortened and edited video from his speech, and the people of the country were well aware of the party’s designs.
He also dismissed Kharge’s demand for his resignation, saying that wouldn’t solve the issues of the Congress and that Kharge knew that the Congress would have to sit for at least 15 more years in the opposition.
