Doubling down on ridicule: Cong slams BJP’s Soros jibe at INDIA bloc’s protest against Shah

PTI, Dec 19, 2024, 10:11 AM IST

New Delhi: The Congress Thursday slammed the BJP for taking a swipe at the INDIA bloc over its protest against Amit Shah for his Ambedkar remarks, alleging it does not respect the chief architect of the Constitution and wants to diminish his stature for narrow political goals.

The opposition party’s attack came over a social media post by the BJP in which it posted a photograph from the INDIA bloc MPs’ protest in Parliament on Wednesday against Shah’s remarks.

However, the images of Ambedkar that the MPs were holding during the protest were edited out and replaced with a picture of US billionaire George Soros. Also, the backdrop was changed with ‘We Love Soros’ written on it.

“Hello, Congress and INDI alliance. We fixed the image for you. You’re welcome,” the BJP said in its post.

The BJP has been on the offensive as it has claimed that Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi had links with George Soros-backed outfits allegedly involved in anti-India activities.

Sharing the screenshot of the BJP’s social media post and also the original photograph from the protest, Congress general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal said, “The BJP is brazen in its insult and ridicule of Dr Ambedkar.” “Instead of ensuring the home minister is removed from his post for the immense hurt caused to the crores of Babasaheb’s followers by Amit Shah’s statements, they are doubling down on the ridicule.” Is standing up for Ambedkar against the insult to him a matter of joke for the BJP? he posed.

“They are bringing in their rotten falsehoods even on a sensitive matter like Dr Ambedkar’s legacy because they do not respect him and want to diminish his stature for their narrow political goals,” Venugopal said in his post on X.

The opposition on Wednesday seized on Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks on B R Ambedkar to corner the government and demanded his resignation for what they called was an insult to the architect of the Constitution.

The attack from virtually all opposition parties, including the Congress, TMC, DMK, RJD, Left parties and Shiv Sena-UBT, led to the adjournment of both Houses of Parliament and prompted the BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to come out in stout defence of Shah.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O’Brien submitted a notice to move a privilege motion against Shah in the Rajya Sabha where the home minister had said on Tuesday evening that Congress leaders would have got a place in heaven had they chanted the name of God rather than following the fashion of repeating Ambedkar’s name.

The hullabaloo in Parliament also spilled onto the streets of the national capital and places as far as Maharashtra, Bihar and Tamil Nadu. In Delhi, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal led hundreds of supporters to gather outside the BJP office and protest noisily amid slogans “Amit Shah maafi mango, Amit Shah sharm karo”.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, DMK chief M K Stalin, Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav were among those who slammed Shah for his remarks.