TMC’s Derek O’Brien Moves Privilege Motion Against Amit Shah Over Ambedkar Remarks

Last Updated:December 18, 2024, 16:29 IST

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien filed the notice under Rule 187 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Rajya Sabha

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien on Wednesday moved a privilege motion against Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his remarks on BR Ambedkar in Parliament.

The notice was filed under Rule 187 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Rajya Sabha. It quoted Shah’s statement made in the Upper House on Tuesday (December 17) 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 his alleged insult of Ambedkar, resulting in both the Houses being adjourned. Criticising the Congress for repeatedly taking the name of Ambedkar, he 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),” he said during his speech.

The home minister said the BJP was happy that the Congress was taking Ambedkar’s name but the party should also speak about its real sentiments towards him. He 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.

He further 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?” he asked Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, stoutly defended Shah from the charge that he insulted Ambedkar in his speech in the Rajya Sabha, asserting that he, in fact, exposed the Congress’ “dark history of insulting” the architect of the Constitution, leaving the main opposition “stung and stunned”.

“They are clearly stung and stunned by the facts he presented, which is why they are now indulging in theatrics. Sadly, for them, people know the truth,” Modi said in a series of posts on X.

‘INSULT TO MILLIONS WHO LOOK UP TO BABASAHEB’

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched a blistering attack on Amit Shah saying “the mask has fallen” as this is a display of the BJP’s “casteist and anti-Dalit mindset”. She said the remarks were an insult to those who look up to Babasaheb.

“The mask has fallen! As Parliament reflects on 75 glorious years of the Constitution, HM Amit Shah chose to tarnish this occasion with derogatory remarks against Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, that too in the temple of democracy,” she said in a post on X.

“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. “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?”

Other TMC leaders also chimed in with Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose saying Shah was “unfit for office of Home Minister”. She said the minister had revealed himself as a “Manuvadi” by insulting the architect of India’s Constitution.

“The insulting remarks of HM Amit Shah about BR Ambedkar, and his teachings is a disgrace. Amit Shah has revealed Manuvadi, and socially discriminatory mindset of BJP, RSS, which uses Ambedkar’s legacy for politics, but has contempt for BR Ambedkar’s teachings of social justice, and social change. Amit Shah has insulted the architect of India’s constitution, when debate on Constitution is going on, he has ridiculed the millions of Ambedkarites who embraced the idea of social justice. This kind of individual is unfit to hold the high office of Home Minister,” she told news agency PTI.