The Congress Working Committee (CWC) reiterates the demand for the Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s resignation as well as for an apology to the nation from him over the controversy regarding his remarks on Bhimrao Ambedkar.

Shah’s alleged denigration of Ambedkar in Parliament is the latest instance of the RSS-BJP’s decades-long project to undermine the Constitution, the grand old party said after its extended CWC meet in Belagavi, Karnataka on Thursday.

“Unfortunately, as we enter the 75th year of our Republic in exactly a month’s time, the Constitution faces its gravest threat yet. Jawaharlal Nehru had said that “there is no doubt that no one took greater care and trouble over Constitution making than Dr. Ambedkar.” The Union Home Minister’s denigration of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in Parliament is the latest instance of the RSS-BJP’s decades-long project to undermine the Constitution. The CWC reiterates the demand for the Union Home Minister’s resignation as well as for an apology to the nation from him,” the party said in a statement after the CWC meet that began in Belagavi, Karnataka today.

The two-day meet commemorates the centenary of Mahatma Gandhi presiding over the Congress’s historic Belgaum (now Belagavi) session as the party president in 1924. The Congress top brass, including its chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, along with CWC members and senior party leaders from across the country, are attending the session.

“We are organised, determined and dedicated to protect the Constitution,” Rahul Gandhi said after the first day of the meet,

What did Amit Shah Say?

Speaking during the debate on Constitution of Indian in Rajya Sabha, Shah took a swipe at the opposition leaders for repeatedly using Ambedkar’s name.

“Abhi ek fashion ho gaya hai – Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. Itna naam agar bhagwan ka lete to saat janmon tak swarg mil jata (It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar’. If they had taken God’s name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven),” Shah is heard saying in the video.

The Congress party has alleged that Shah’s remarks in the Rajya Sabha in the recent Parliament’s Winter Session shows that the saffron party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leaders have a “lot of hatred” for BR Ambedkar and demanded an apology from him.

The CWC, the party’s highest decision-making body, passed two resolutions in the meeting – one on Mahatma Gandhi, second on political situation in the country.

The two resolutions are as under:

1- The CWC reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the values that defined Mahatma Gandhi’s entire life, to the causes he championed relentlessly and the ideals he upheld.

The panel recalled that Mahatma Gandhi’s life was anchored in truth, non-violence, fearlessness and simplicity. “But even as our country has progressed impressively, his relevance has only become more significant. In our continued quest for deeper social and economic justice and growth with ecological balance he continues to be a guide and a moral compass. In our continued pursuit of communal harmony and amity, without which economic advancement will have little meaning, he remains the exemplar,” the CEC resolved.

2- The CWC believes that it is ironic, even reprehensible, that those very ideologies that bitterly opposed him during his lifetime are now hypocritically invoking him. “The patronage provided to his killers and their glorification in recent years reveals the true colours of these ideologies and institutions. The politics of polarisation and divisiveness is a rejection of the very essence of Gandhian beliefs,” it said.

The CWC called upon all party workers to stand united and work tirelessly to protect, preserve and promote Mahatma Gandhi’s precious legacy.

Concern over Bangladesh

The CWC expressed concern over attack on religious minorities in Bangladesh, urges Union government to ensure their safety and wellbeing. The CWC also termed announcement on disengagement between India, China as nation’s biggest territorial setback in decades.