Delhi, December 20, 2024 (Punjab Khabarnama Bureau): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to divert the people’s attention from the controversy over Union home minister Amit Shah’s comments on BR Ambedkar, and announced that they will continue to fight to safeguard the legacy of India’s first law minister.
They also refuted allegations that Gandhi shoved and injured two ruling party lawmakers, and alleged that BJP members shoved Kharge and injured his knees.
“Their full time job was to create one distraction or the other. We have been saying from the beginning that the thinking of BJP-RSS is anti-constitutional, anti-Ambedkar thinking and they want to erase the memory of Ambedkar, his contribution, they want to end it and directly their minister, home minister directly showed their mindset in front of everyone,” Gandhi said.
He also alleged that the “main issue” was the allegation of corruption against the Adani Group in the US, and said that the BJP worked to stop any discussion on it.
“Today we had a protest, we came out from Babasaheb Ambedkar’s statue, his idol and we were coming in a line in a peaceful manner, but I don’t know what came into their mind. We were walking, they came to Makar Dwar and sat there to stop us, and Parliament time was also over and there were five minutes left, so we wanted to go inside, but they stopped us at the door and stopped us in such a way as to show their muscle power, there were so many of their male MPs there, don’t even ask,” Kharge said.
Gandhi reiterated the Congress’s demand for Shah’s resignation.
“We said that there should be an apology and he should resign… he did not do it. Today again they have started a new distraction. We all MPs were peacefully going to the Parliament House from Ambedkar ji’s statue, BJP MPs stood in front of us with sticks on the steps of the Parliament House, not letting us go inside and after that now they are again trying to create this distraction. The reality is that they have insulted Ambedkar ji, there should be an apology for it and the home minister should resign,” he said.
Summary: Rahul Gandhi claims Amit Shah’s views have been exposed, accusing the BJP of using diversion tactics to shift focus from critical issues.