TMC Moves Privilege Notice Against Amit Shah Amid Ambedkar Row

New Delhi: Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien on Wednesday submitted a privilege notice against Home Minister Amit Shah over his remarks on BR Ambedkar. According to PTI sources, the notice has been filed under Rule 187 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Rajya Sabha. The notice also quoted the statement the home minister made in the Upper House on Tuesday during his reply to a debate on the 75 years of the Constitution.

Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha witnessed protests from the Congress and some other opposition parties over Shah's alleged insult of Ambedkar, resulting in both the Houses being adjourned.   

What Shah Had Said? 

Criticising the Congress for repeatedly taking the name of BR Ambedkar, Shah had said in his remarks that if they taken God's name so many times they could have earned a place in heaven.  "Abhi ek fashion ho gaya hai - Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. Itna naam agar bhagwan ka lete to saat janmon tak swarg mil jata (It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar'. If they had taken God's name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven)," Shah had said.

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. Shah pointed out how Ambedkar had to resign from the first Cabinet citing his disagreement with the then Congress-led government's policies including Article 370.

The home minister also said most of the memorials of Ambedkar were built when the BJP came to power. "How appropriate is it for you to use the name of a person for vote bank politics whom you used to oppose?" Shah asked Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. 

‘Mask Has Fallen’

Earlier in the day, Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee had attacked the Home Minister, saying that the "mask has fallen". "As Parliament reflects on 75 glorious years of the Constitution, HM @AmitShah chose to TARNISH this occasion with DEROGATORY remarks against Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, that too in the temple of Democracy. 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 said in a post on X.

"HM Amit Shah's remarks are an insult to the millions who look up to Babasaheb for guidance and inspiration. But what else can you expect from a party that has internalised hate and bigotry? Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar is the Father of the Constitution, this outrageous remark is not only an outright attack on him but all members of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution, which symbolised India's unity in diversity with members from all castes, creeds, ethnicities, and religions," the West Bengal CM added.