New Delhi: Proceedings of both Houses of Parliament were adjourned on Wednesday as the Opposition protested over Union home minister Amit Shah's remarks on B.R. Ambedkar on Tuesday, calling it an insult to the architect of the Constitution. While the Opposition parties demanded Mr Shah’s resignation and apology, the BJP defended the Union home minister, calling the protests an "attempt to mislead the nation".
Trinamul Congress Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien submitted a privilege notice in the Rajya Sabha against Mr Shah for his "insult" of B.R. Ambedkar. Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition in Rahul Gandhi said that the country will not tolerate Babasaheb Ambedkar's insult and demanded that the Union home minister should apologise for his remarks in the Rajya Sabha.
As soon as the Lok Sabha met for the day, the Congress members trooped into the Well, displaying posters of B.R. Ambedkar and sought an apology from Mr Shah for his remarks during a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. Some members of the INDIA bloc were also in the Well of the House. Mr Gandhi was present in the House along with his sibling MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Members of other Opposition parties, including from TMC, stood at their seats in support of the Congress.
Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal countered the Congress, saying the party has always insulted B.R. Ambedkar and ensured his defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. The minister also claimed that the Congress has now been forced to take the name of B.R. Ambedkar, though the party does not respect him.
Amid the protests, the Speaker adjourned the House till 2 pm. However, when the house reassembled in the afternoon, the Opposition parties continued with their protests, leading to the adjournment of the Lower House for the day.
The Rajya Sabha also witnessed a similar noisy scene as the Opposition parties protested over Mr Shah’s remarks.
Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju accused the Congress of misleading the country by using only a part of Mr Shah's remarks made in the Rajya Sabha and asserted that the home minister had in clear words "exposed" how the Congress party had insulted B.R. Ambedkar.
"You (the Congress) cannot use an 11-12 second clip out of Mr Shah's entire speech and mislead the nation," Mr Rijiju said and stressed that for the BJP, B.R. Ambedkar is equivalent to God.
The Opposition, however, was unrelenting. Amid sloganeering, the House was adjourned for the day soon after it met post-lunch.
In the morning, after the listed papers and reports were tabled and the Upper House went ahead with the scheduled Zero Hour, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh rose and alleged that Mr Shah insulted B.R. Ambedkar with his remarks during the debate on the Constitution. Several other Congress members were on their feet and started raising slogans like "Ambedkar ka apamaan nai sahega Hindustan" (India will not tolerate B.R. Ambedkar's insult).
Congress President and Rajya Sabha Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge raised a poster of B.R. Ambedkar.
Amid an uproar that followed, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar adjourned the proceedings within a few minutes till 2 pm. When the Upper House reassembled at 2 pm, Mr Rijiju said two bills -- the Appropriation Bill and the Banking Regulation Bill -- were listed for the day. He requested the Opposition parties to allow the House to function and start the discussion on the Banking Regulation Bill.
However, as sloganeering by members of the Opposition parties continued, Mr Dhankhar said Babasaheb Ambedkar is a father figure for all, being the architect of the Indian Constitution.
Mr Rijiju explained that the Union home minister had on Tuesday said that the Congress hatched a conspiracy to defeat B.R. Ambedkar when he contested for polls from Mumbai and later from Vidarbha.
The minister demanded that the Congress must apologise to the nation, alleging that B.R. Ambedkar wanted to get re-elected to the Lok Sabha but was not allowed to do so by the Congress, which forced him to leave electoral politics.
Mr Rijiju also said that until 1990, the Congress-led government refused to give a Bharat Ratna to B.R. Ambedkar. He accused the Congress of attempting to malign and remove B.R. Ambedkar's name from India's history while trying to garner votes by using his name.
Mr Rijiju accused the Congress of using an edited clip of Mr Shah's entire speech to mislead the nation.
At this, Mr Kharge repeated Mr Shah's remark and said it only showed the minister's disrespect towards the architect of the Constitution.
The Congress president claimed that Mr Shah had "made fun of" B.R. Ambedkar by saying that "if they (the Congress) had taken God's name as many times, it would have attained a place in heaven in all of its seven births".
The Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha argued that this was an insult to B.R. Ambedkar, to which Mr Rijiju said that Mr Kharge was again trying to mislead the House.
Leader of the House J.P. Nadda stood up in Mr Shah's defence, saying that Mr Kharge was trying to “mislead" the nation through Parliament and accused the Congress of treating B.R. Ambedkar with disdain and disrespect.
Mr Nadda rejected Mr Kharge's claim and alleged that it was the Congress that had disrespected B.R. Ambedkar during his lifetime, due to which he had resigned from the Union Cabinet.
Several MPs of the INDIA bloc, including Mr Kharge and Mr Gandhi, staged a protest in the Parliament premises demanding Shah's apology for his remarks, which they claimed were an insult to B.R. Ambedkar.
The Congress president said if Prime Minister Narendra Modi has any respect for Babsaheb, he should sack the Union home minister today itself in case he does not quit on his own.
"Mr Shah's remarks on B.R. Ambedkar are condemnable. He has insulted the Dalit hero, whom they consider as revered. Amit Shah must apologise to the people of the country," Mr Kharge said.
Mr Kharge also attacked the Prime Minister, saying that instead of telling Mr Shah that his remarks were wrong, Mr Modi is defending his home minister.
"An MP or a minister takes the pledge of the Constitution, and if he disrespects it, he should be removed from the Cabinet immediately," Mr Kharge said.
Sharing pictures from the protest, Mr Gandhi, in a Facebook post in Hindi, said, "Babasaheb is the architect of the Constitution… The country will not tolerate his insult or the insult to the Constitution framed by him. The home minister should apologise!"
