Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai On Ambedkar Row

New Delhi: The Congress has insulted BR Ambedkar in his lifetime and is in no position to point fingers at anyone, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said today in the backdrop of the row over Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks about the architect of the Indian constitution.

Asked about the matter in an exclusive interview, Mr Sai — a tribal leader — said it was not possible that anyone from the BJP would insult Ambedkar. “We need to look at what the Union Home Minister said in entirety,” he added.

The BJP, Mr Sai said, has shown huge respect to Ambedkar, no matter who headed the government — Atal Bihari Vajpayee or Narendra Modi.

“The Congress did not even allow his portrait in the country’s parliament. When he was alive, they insulted him repeatedly. But when our government came to power, we established the places associated with his life as five pilgrim centres,” Mr Sai told NDTV.

“Today in Mau where he was born, and in London where he was educated, we have set up plaques in his memory. And so we did in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi,” he added.

Addressing the House during the debate to mark 75 years of the Constitution last week, Mr Shah had said taking BR Ambedkar’s name had become a “fashion” now.

“It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar’. If they took God’s name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven,” he said.

It had sparked a huge row during the Winter Session of parliament, with the Opposition uniting to allege that was an insult to Ambedkar and demanding Mr Shah’s resignation.

The BJP rebuttal was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who, in a series of tweets, said the Congress and its “rotten ecosystem” were “gravely mistaken” if they thought “malicious lies” could hide their insult of BR Ambedkar.