'Cong Insulted Baba Saheb Ambedkar': Rijiju Defends Shah's Rajya Sabha Remarks

New Delhi: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju slammed the opposition following a protest over Amit Shah 's remarks on 'Ambedkar,' saying that "Congress insulted Baba Saheb."

Speaking in Rajya Sabha the Union Minister defended Shah and launched a scathing attack on Congress saying, "Yesterday, Union HM Amit Shah clearly showed our sense of reverence in his speech. He also said how Congress insulted Ambedkar ji when he was alive..."

He added, "The Congress party did not award him with Bharat Ratna for so many years and along with that, the Congress party insulted Baba Saheb and defeated him in 1952 in an election under a conspiracy...I am a Buddhist and a person who follows the path shown by Baba Saheb. In this country, Baba Saheb resigned from the post of Law Minister in 1951."

Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's leadership, Rijiju said,  "After 71 years, PM Narendra Modi made me, who is a Buddist the Law Minister of the country..."

This development comes a day after Union Minister Amit Shah concluded the two-day discussion in Rajya Sabha on 75 years of the Constitution on Tuesday, where he asserted that taking BR Ambedkar's name has become a "fashion" now.

"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 took God's name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven)," Shah said.

He further added, "Take his name 100 times more, but I want to say what are your sentiments about him."

Shah also stated that BR Ambedkar had to resign from the first Cabinet amid his disagreement with the then-PMJawaharlal Nehru-led government.

"Ambedkar ji has said several times that he was not satisfied with the treatment of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes," he said, adding that BR Ambedkar was also unhappy with the government's policy approach and its stand on Article 370. "He wanted to quit (the cabinet), he was given an assurance, and when the assurance was not fulfilled, he resigned."