BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah slammed Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday for his remarks about Dr BR Ambedkar in the Parliament. “For us, Ambedkar is not a ‘fashion’ but an eternal inspiration. As long as we breathe and the Sun and Moon shine on this Earth, Ambedkar’s legacy will endure. The more you try to diminish his memory, the stronger it will rise to guide us forward,” Siddaramaiah stated in an open letter to Shah.
The CM said that Shah’s statement in the Parliament on Wednesday didn’t surprise them as they already knew the latter’s party’s true mindset. “But now, the entire country has seen your lack of respect for the architect of the Indian Constitution. Standing in the very Parliament that runs under his Constitution and calling his memory a ‘habit’ shows your arrogance,” Siddaramaiah told Shah.
Siddaramaiah asked Shah not to attempt to mislead the nation by saying his words were twisted. “Had Dr Ambedkar not been born, I wouldn’t have had the privilege of becoming the Chief Minister today. I might have been herding cattle in my village. Our senior leader, Mallikarjun Kharge Ji, wouldn’t have risen to lead the AICC. He might have been working in a factory in Kalaburagi. We owe every step of our progress and dignity to Babasaheb and the Constitution he gave us,” Siddaramaiah added.
Siddaramaiah said Dr Ambedkar’s vision elevated all of them. “Even the Prime Minister might admit this, and so should he. Amit Shah’s remarks in Parliament are just an extension of the RSS ideology,” the CM added.