"Their malicious lies…”: Modi Defends Amit Shah, Accuses Congress of Insulting Ambedkar's Legacy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday responded sharply to the Congress-led opposition's protest over Home Minister Amit Shah's comments on Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Modi accused the Congress of using "dirty tricks" to erase the legacy of the Dalit icon and insult the architect of India’s Constitution.

In a series of six tweets on X, the Prime Minister stated that the Congress and its "rotten ecosystem" were mistaken if they believed their "malicious lies" could conceal the party’s long-standing insults toward Ambedkar. "If the Congress and its rotten ecosystem think their malicious lies can hide their misdeeds of several years, especially their insult towards Dr. Ambedkar, they are gravely mistaken," Modi wrote.

The Prime Minister further accused the Congress party of attempting to obliterate Ambedkar’s legacy and humiliate Dalit communities. "The people of India have seen time and again how one Party, led by one dynasty, has indulged in every possible dirty trick to obliterate the legacy of Dr. Ambedkar and humiliate the SC/ST communities," he added.

Modi highlighted spactions by the Congress, including the party’s refusal to confer the Bharat Ratna on Ambedkar and its efforts to defeat him in elections. "The list of Congress' sins towards Dr. Ambedkar includes: Getting him defeated in elections not once but twice, Pandit Nehru campaigning against him and making his loss a prestige issue, denying him a Bharat Ratna, and denying his portrait a place of pride in Parliament’s Central Hall," Modi said in his tweet.

In addition, the Prime Minister also criticized the Congress for its alleged inaction toward the welfare of the SC and ST communities during its long tenure in power. "Congress can try as they want but they can’t deny that the worst massacres against SC/ST communities have happened under their regimes. For years, they sat in power but did nothing substantive to empower the SC and ST communities," Modi stated.

This political exchange unfolds amidst a protest by the Congress and its allies in Parliament over Amit Shah's controversial remark about Dr. Ambedkar. During a two-day discussion in the Rajya Sabha on 75 years of the Constitution, Shah had criticized the Congress for making it "fashionable" to invoke Ambedkar's name. "It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. If they had taken God's name as many times, they would have earned a place in heaven," Shah said, triggering an outcry from Congress leaders.

Several Congress leaders, including Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Party President Mallikarjun Kharge, expressed strong disapproval of Shah's comments. Gandhi, in a post on X, suggested that those who follow Manusmriti are fundamentally opposed to Ambedkar’s vision.

Kharge, speaking on the floor of the House, accused Shah and the BJP-RSS of disrespecting Ambedkar and undermining the Constitution. "The insult of Baba Saheb Ambedkar by the Home Minister has once again proven that the BJP-RSS are against the tricolour, that their forefathers opposed the Ashok Chakra, and that they have always sought to implement Manusmriti instead of the Constitution of India," Kharge said.

He went on to demand Shah’s resignation. "He has insulted Baba Saheb Ambedkar and the Constitution. His ideology of Manusmriti and RSS makes it clear that he does not want to respect Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s Constitution. We condemn this, and we demand his resignation. He should apologise to the people of the country... He should resign from his position," Kharge added.​