‘If you provoke us, we’re like fire’: Shri Mallikarjun Kharge targets Shah over Ambedkar remarks row

Belagavi:The Congress’‘Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan’ convention in Belagavi on January 21, 2025, saw the Party’s President, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, and MP Smt. Priyanka Gandhi lash out at Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his recent controversial remarks about BR Ambedkar. Shri Kharge reiterated his demand for Shah’s resignation over the remarks, while Smt. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra linked the home minister’s “insult to Ambedkar” to the BJP’s ideological roots. Shri Mallikarjun Kharge criticized the BJP for blaming the Congress for Ambedkar’s election defeat. “If you provoke us, we are like fire. You will get burnt. You cannot survive,” he said. The AICC President described Priyanka Gandhi as a symbol of ‘women power’ and Rahul Gandhi symbolizing ‘youth power,’ hailing the contribution of the two leaders. Smt. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that Shah’s remark was an insult to democracy. “Many governments have come and gone… But till now there has been no other government whose home minister has insulted Dr. Ambedkar standing inside Parliament,” she said. She attributed such remarks by BJP leaders to the Party’s roots in an ideology “that insulted the Constitution and held a campaign against it”. She said that Rahul Gandhi’s efforts to preserve the constitutional ideals were met with multiple complaints filed against him in BJP-ruled states. Earlier in the day, Congress President inaugurated a statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the Suvarna Soudha premises on the outskirts of Belagavi.

Cases Against Rahul

Smt. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that the cases filed in the BJP-ruled states including Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar against Rahul Gandhi would not deter him from his fight against the forces inimical to the Indian Constitution. The AICC General Secretary and MP urged people to vow to protect the Constitution while pledging the Congress Party’s support to them.