PM should sack Amit Shah: Kharge over Ambedkar remarks

Stepping up his attack on Amit Shah over his remarks on BR Ambedkar, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said if Prime Minister Narendra Modi has any respect for Babsaheb he should sack the home minister today itself in case he does not quit on his own.

Accusing Shah of disrespecting the architect of the Constitution, Kharge said the home minister should apologise to the nation for the insult he caused to Ambedkar during his speech in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

"I want to tell the PM that if he respects Babsaheb, he should immediate remove Amit Shah from his Cabinet," Kharge told a press conference here.

"Amit Shah's remarks on Ambedkar are condemnable, he has insulted the Dalit hero, whom they revere. Amit Shah must apologise to the people of the country," Kharge said.

He also attacked the prime minister, saying that instead of telling Shah that his remarks were wrong, Modi is defending his home minister.

An MP or a minister takes the pledge of the Constitution, and if he disrespects it, he should be removed from the Cabinet immediately, Kharge said, adding that people will otherwise register their grievances, raise slogans and are ready to give their lives for Babasaheb.

Criticising the Congress for repeatedly taking the name of B R Ambedkar, Shah had said in his remarks on Tuesday that had they taken God's name so many times they could have earned a place in heaven.