Parliament session highlights: 'Congress distorting facts,' says Amit Shah on Ambedkar remark row

Parliament session LIVE: Citing an unknown letter, supposedly from Jawaharlal Nehru to Lady Mountbatten, BJP posted on X that the Nehru family and the Congress had been insulting Dr BR Ambedkar for decades.

The highlighted sections of the letter say, “ Our success has been far greater than expected. Ambedkar has been dropped out,” though the context of the lines are unknown.

Parliament session LIVE: Parliament session LIVE: In a post on X, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh quoted a recent biography on Amedkar to state that the BJP was distorting history when it claimed that it was the Congress that was anti-Ambedkar.

“Dr. Ambedkar himself writes that the plot to defeat him in the 1st Lok Sabha elections from Bombay North reserved seat was hatched by Dange and Savarkar, who was inflamed by his proposal for the partition of Kashmir. Dange, of course, was a noted communist leader.This completely debunks the utter lies and propaganda spread by the two master distorians,” he said.

Parliament session LIVE: Union minister Amit Shah told the press that the uproar over comments he allegedly made about Babasaheb Ambedkar was a tactic to try and target the BJP after the opposition lost elections in Haryana and Maharashtra.

“First it was EVMs, now this. The public sees through it all,” he said.

Parliament session LIVE: During a press briefing to address his remarks Amit Shah expressed disappointment in Mallikarjun Kharge stating that as a dalit he should not have stood behind the Congress in their protest as they have insulted Dr Ambedkar far more than the BJP.

Congress president Kharge had asked Amit Shah to resign over comments made in Rajya Sabha.

Parliament session LIVE: Union minister Amit Shah stated that the Congress has reportedly twisted his words and have taken his speech out of context. He asked that the media showcase his full, unedited speech to the public.

“The people who denied Babasaheb Ambedkar are the ones trying to protest in his name”, he said.

Parliament session LIVE: Union home minister Amit Shah slammed the Congress during a press conference stating that the Congress was twisting the truth and that they were “anti-Ambedkar, anti-reservation and anti-Constitution”.

Parliament session LIVE: During a press conference, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that “BJP-RSS and their political ancestors have never respected the Constitution.”

He said, “Their political ancestors never accepted the Constitution, burnt its copies. These people did not even adopt the tricolour.They said that the Constitution does not have the words of Manusmriti, so they will not accept it. In protest against this, they also burnt the effigies of Nehru and Ambedkar.”

He added that if BJP and its leaders had respect for Ambedkar then they would never have said such things.

Parliament session LIVE: AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal addressed a crowd during a protest against union minister Amit Shah's comments on BR Ambedkar, and stated that strict action must be taken against the BJP politician.

"BJP's top leadership has made it clear that they are against BR Ambedkar. Now, it up to supporters of BJP to decide whether they are with the BJP or with BR Ambedkar. We demand strict action against Amit Shah."

Parliament session LIVE: Congress chief Kharge claimed that the BJP, including PM Modi and Amit Shah, were followers of the laws of Manusmriti and not the Constitution, during a press conference.

He pointed out that the comments in parliament made by Amit Shah were insulting not only to BR Ambedkar but to all Dalits and citizens of the country.

He demanded an apology from the union minister as well as his resignation before midnight today. He asked that PM Modi ensure that Shah step down for the remarks made if he wanted to show respect to the Constitution.

Parliament session LIVE: Criticising PM Modi for his defence of Amit Shah after allegedly casteist remarks made in parliament, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge during a press conference asked for union minister Amit Shah to step down before midnight today and for PM Modi to apologise as well.

He also stated that both PM Modi and Amit Shah had upheld the principles of the Manusmriti rather than the Indian Constitution.

Parliament session LIVE: Mallikarjun Kharge addressed the press on Wednesday and condemned Amit Shah's remarks, stating that they had insulted a Dalit icon and also invoked casteist ideas from the Manusmriti.

He also said that the BJP as a whole had insulted the constitution.

Parliament session LIVE: Cong president Mallikarjun Kharge condemned remarks made by Amit Shah on Dr BR Ambedkar in Rajya Sabha during a press briefing on Wednesday.

“Insulting and taunting such a person is most condemnable”, he said.

Parliament session LIVE: Police in Kolkata detained Congress workers as they held a protest against union minister Amit Shah's statement on Bharat Ratna BR Ambedkar in the Rajya Sabha.

Parliament session LIVE: In a post on social media platform X, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee criticised Amit Shah for his comments on Ambedkar, accusing him of spreading hate and bigotry.

In her post she said, “This is a display of BJP’s CASTEIST and ANTI-DALIT mindset. If this is how they behave after being reduced to 240 seats, imagine the damage they would’ve inflicted if their dream of 400 seats had been realised. They’d have rewritten history to entirely erase Dr. Ambedkar’s contributions.”

Parliament session LIVE: Union minister Chirag Paswan stated that the Congress was pretending in response to the ruckus in parliament due to comments made about Babasaheb Ambedkar by Amit Shah.

Paswan condemned the Congres, saying, "This is the same Congress which did not consider it necessary to give respect to Baba Saheb Ambedkar while he was alive. Congress is only in a competition, why? Because today Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the NDA government at the Center have worked to develop and identify the major events related to Bhim Rao Ambedkar's life."

Parliament session LIVE: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray commented on the uproar in parliament after union home minister Amit Shah made comments involving Dr BR Ambedkar, stating that it was an insult to the Constitution and action should be taken against Shah by PM Modi.

“The manner in which Amit Shah spoke in the Parliament yesterday, he displayed insolence. He said that taking Ambedkar's name has become fashion and that had they taken God's name as much they would have been in heaven. Who are you?” he said.

He also questioned PM Modi's stance on the issue and added, “The manner in which BJP is insulting someone who gave us the Constitution is not acceptable to us. Will BJP and RSS take action against Amit Shah? Will PM take action against him or did the PM tell him to say that? ”

Parliament session LIVE: A senior Congress leader confirmed that Priyanka Gandhi, Manish Tewari and Sukhdev Bhagat might be the three Congress members in the Joint Committee on One Nation One Poll, stated a senior Congress leader.

They also stated that Congress might nominate Randeep Surjewala from Rajya Sabha as a member of the joint parliamentary committee.

Parliament session LIVE: Rajya Sabha proceedings have also been adjourned and will resume tomorrow at 11 am.

Parliament session LIVE: Amid a ruckus in Parliament with opposition MPs demanding Union home minister Amit Shah's resignation, Lok Sabha proceedings for the day were adjourned and will resume at 11 am on 19th december.

Parliamentary proceedings in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have resumed amid protest by Opposition over Amit Shah's remarks.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has demanded the resignation of union home minister Amit Shah, alleging that the latter had insulted Dalit icon BR Ambedkar in the parliament. The BJP, however, has accused the opposition of distorting Shah's remark. More details.

Parliament session LIVE: “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!” Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X amid Opposition's protest over Amit Shah's remarks on BR Ambedkar in Rajya Sabha.

“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.”

"Since last night, the Congress Party has been taking out a small part of the speech of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and trying to mislead the people. During his entire speech, Amit Shah praised the Babasaheb Ambedkar. He has also told the House how our government and BJP, under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, have devoted not only to Babasaheb Ambedkar's legacy but also to promoting his ideals...I would like to tell the Congress Party to stop misusing the name of BR Ambedkar...Congress has no moral right to take the name of BR Ambedkar," Union Minister Kiren Rijiju says, according to ANI.

Parliament session LIVE: LoP in Rajya Sabha and Congress MP Mallikarjun Kharge on Union home minister's speech: "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..."

NCP-SCP chief Sharad Pawar met PM Narendra Modi today in the Parliament regarding the issue of pomegranate farmers. He told reporters that they did not have political discussions in the meeting, according to ANI.