Patna: Launching a scathing attack against Union home minister Amit Shah over his alleged remarks on Babasaheb Ambedkar, which triggered a political slugfest nationwide, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad on Thursday asked the senior BJP leader to ‘resign from the Cabinet’ and ‘give up politics’, triggering strong protests from the ruling alliance.
Taking to media persons, Lalu condemned Shah’s statement on Babasaheb. “He should quit politics instantly,” Lalu said, adding that any insult to Babasaheb wouldn’t be tolerated.
The NDA allies were quick to pounce on Lalu’s statements against Shah. Accusing Lalu of robbing the money meant for the poor, BJP’s deputy CM Samrat Choudhary said that the RJD chief got bail from the court on health grounds but has been indulging in politics.
“Lalu got bail on the ground that he is sick, but out on bail, he has indulged in politics and is hurling abuses at his rivals,” Choudhary – also the finance minister – said, accusing him of being a ‘murderer of democracy,’ and describing him as a ‘blot’ on Bihar’s politics.
Rural works department minister Ashok Choudhary said the opposition was trying to create confusion in the minds of the Dalits by making wild allegations against Shah. “The opposition can’t defeat the NDA with votes, and hence it is trying to create confusion among Dalits through various ways,” Choudhary said.
Both remarks were strongly condemned by RJD’s national spokesperson Subodh Mehta.
Meanwhile, AAP chief and former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday wrote a letter to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, a key BJP ally, asking him to ‘seriously consider the issue’. “Babasaheb Ambedkar was honoured with a ‘Doctor of Law’ degree by Columbia University, he authored the Indian constitution and had a dream to empower the most deprived section of society. How did the BJP have the audacity to make such a comment about him?” Kejriwal wrote in the letter. Stating that Babasaheb is not a leader but a ‘soul of our country,’ Kejriwal suggested Nitish seriously consider the issue.
The controversy erupted after Shah, during a debate on the Constitution in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, said, “It has become a fashion to repeat the name of Ambedkar. If they had taken God’s name so many times, they would have gotten a place in heaven.”