BELAGAVI: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday stepped up the attack on Union Home Minister Amit Shah for his recent comments on Dr BR Ambedkar in the Rajya Sabha.
Reading out a detailed statement in the assembly amid din by both BJP and the Congress MLAs over the issue, the CM claimed that Shah would have been a “gujari” (scrap dealer) if there was no Dr Ambedkar’s constitution.
Siddaramaiah alleged that the main reason behind BJP and Sangh Parivar’s hatred for Dr Ambedkar was the Constitution. The CM said that in 1927, Dr Ambedkar publicly burned the Manusmriti and 22 years later, he created a new Constitution. Siddaramaiah charged that the hatred of the BJP and the RSS for Ambedkar was not new.
Dr Ambedkar dedicated the Constitution to the country on November 30, 1949. Four days later, the RSS mouthpiece ‘Organiser’ wrote an editorial against the Constitution, the Chief Minister added.
Siddaramaiah further said that if Dr Ambedkar was not there, he and AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge would not have occupied high positions. Instead, he would have had to stay in his village grazing cattle, Siddaramaiah added.
Meanwhile, the Assembly on Thursday witnessed an uproar with the Ruling Congress MLAs demanding Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s resignation over his recent remarks on Dr BR Ambedkar in the Rajya Sabha. To counter the Congress MLAs, BJP members raised slogans accusing the Grand Old Party of getting Dr Ambedkar defeated in elections.
The House was adjourned thrice over the issue.When Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao was giving his reply to the question on the recent maternal deaths in Ballari government hospital, Congress MLAs raised slogans against Shah by displaying posters of Dr Ambedkar. They sought Shah’s resignation and asked him to leave the country.
BJP MLAs displayed posters accusing the Congress of working against Dr Ambedkar in the past elections, blaming the party for the recent maternal deaths, and for imposing the Emergency. The BJP MLAs also tore papers and threw them into the well of the House.
The Speaker adjourned the session first at 11.30 am, then at 1.30 pm, and again at 2.30 pm.