Cong distorting my remarks on Ambedkar condemnable: Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressing a press conference at BJP headquarters in New Delhi on Wednesday. (UNI )
Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressing a press conference at BJP headquarters in New Delhi on Wednesday. (UNI )

‘Discussion on Constitution left Cong with no answer’

NEW DELHI, Dec 18: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday hit out at the Congress for distorting his remarks on BR Ambedkar and said the way the grand old party has tried to distort the facts since yesterday is extremely “reprehensible and condemnable”.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, Amit Shah said, ”I come from a party which follows the ideals of Ambedkar. We have preached his ideas and have strengthened the reservations in India”.
“In Parliament, the Bharatiya Janata Party members gave examples of how the Constitution was attacked and wounded by the Congress, the Home Minister said.
“This has proved that the Congress is anti-Ambedkar, anti-Constitution and anti-Savarkar,” he said.

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The Minister said, “The discussion on the Constitution left the Congress with no answer to the charge that the party is against Ambedkar, Savarkar and reservation… I would have been happy if the Congress had countered my speech with facts but they edited it and gave it a different meaning altogether”.
Shah alleged that Congress leaders have awarded Bharat Ratna to themselves many times but Baba Saheb got Bharat Ratna in 1990 when Congress was not in power and there was a BJP supported Government.
“In 1955, Nehru Ji awarded Bharat Ratna to himself, in 1971 Indira Ji awarded Bharat Ratna to herself” he said.
The Home Minister said, “I would also like to tell Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge that you should not have supported this nefarious effort of the Congress…adding that I am very sad that you have also joined this under pressure from Rahul Gandhi”. Amit Shah’s remarks came after the Congress today demanded his resignation for his remarks in the Rajya Sabha which it claimed were an “insult” to B.R. Ambedkar.
Meanwhile, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, J P Nadda and Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday slammed the Congress, accusing it of resorting to cheap politics and spreading fake narratives over Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks on B R Ambedkar.
Defence Minister Singh said the Congress systematically insulted and slandered Babasaheb Ambedkar during his lifetime and for decades after that. The BJP and the NDA Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi have revered Babasaheb and all the places associated with him, he said.
“Home Minister Amit Shah put forth the same in Parliament yesterday (Tuesday) with facts, logic and evidence. The Congress is doing cheap politics to hide this truth,” the defence minister said.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Vaishnaw accused the Congress of trying to create a fake narrative once again.
“It must reply why did Pandit Nehru campaign against Dr Ambedkar and defeat him? Why did Congress deny Dr Ambedkar the Bharat Ratna for over 40 years,” Vaishnaw, who also holds the Railways portfolio, said in a post on X.
Nadda, the Union Health Minister and the BJP president said the Congress party must look in the mirror before lecturing others on respecting Babasaheb Ambedkar.
“They have stooped to the level where they spread lies. Yesterday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s speech, backed by facts, logic, and evidence, uncovered the Congress Party’s malicious history of being anti-Adumbrated, anti-Dalit, anti-poor, and anti-Constitution,” Nadda said.
“Time and again, Congress has backstabbed Babasaheb Ambedkar and our Dalit communities for their political gains. This is well documented,” Nadda said.
The Health Minister said the Congress denied Ambedkar the Bharat Ratna, refused to place his portrait in Parliament’s Central Hall, and Pandit Nehru campaigned against him, even defeating him in elections.
“The Congress continues to mislead the nation by spreading a false narrative. The people are well-informed and will never accept their lies,” Nadda said. (Agencies)