Kharge says was pushed; bid to distract from Adani issue: Rahul

Reiterating Congress’s demand for Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s apology and his resignation over his remarks on Dr B R Ambedkar during a debate on the Constitution in RS, Kharge said: “Today we had a protest, and we left from Babasaheb’s statue and were peacefully protesting in a line. I don’t know what they (BJP members) thought. We were walking, and they came to the Makar Dwar and sat there to stop us. We wanted to go in, but they stopped us at the gate. And to show their muscle power, they had so many male MPs. We had our female MPs with us, and… they were also stopped. They attacked us. Firstly, I am in no condition to push anyone, they pushed me, I couldn’t keep my balance, and I sat down. And now they are alleging we pushed them.”

“Priyanka Gandhi took the lead in the movement today. We only had women members. They were making fun of us. They were all men. This kind of atmosphere created by BJP will never be tolerated,” said Kharge.

He asserted, “We didn’t push anyone, but they are still saying it.”

In a letter to Speaker Om Birla, Kharge sought an inquiry into the incident which he said “is an assault not just on me personally but on the Leader of the Opposition, Rajya Sabha and the Congress president”.

“When I reached the Makar Dwar along with the INDIA parties MPs, I was physically pushed by BJP MPs. Thereafter, I lost my balance and was forced to sit down on the ground in front of the Makar Dwar. This inflicted an injury on my knees which have already undergone surgery,” he said in his letter.

“Our issue,” said Kharge, “was the loot by Adani of the country and our attack was on those who are letting him do that.”

Accusing Shah of “ridiculing” Ambedkar, he said, “He did it by asking us how many times we took Ambedkar’s name. He said that if we had taken the name of God as many times as we took Ambedkar’s name, we would be in heaven in seven lives… This thinking is condemnable. They are giving everything under and above the ground — like ports, airports, roads — to Adani,” he said.

On the Opposition’s demand that Shah be removed, Kharge said, “… We got to know he will not be removed and he will not leave his post.”

Rahul Gandhi said that the BJP was trying to “create distractions from the case against Adani”, referring to the US indictment of industrialist Gautam Adani. “The whole time, the BJP tried to stop discussions on that. Their basic strategy was to subvert the issue. This was their full-time work,” said Gandhi.

“After that, Amit Shah gave a statement. The thinking of the BJP-RSS is anti-Constitutional and anti-Ambedkar. They want to finish his (Ambedkar’s) memory. Their home minister showed their mindset in front of everyone. We said there should be an apology and he should resign. Today, again they have started a new distraction. We were peacefully marching from Ambedkarji’s statue in Parliament. BJP MPs were there with sticks at the stairs of Parliament House. They stopped us from entering. They are again trying to distract (from the issue). The reality is they have insulted Ambedkar ji, and there should be an apology.”

“The main issue,” said Gandhi, “is that Narendra Modiji’s friend Adani ji has a case in the US, and he has been indicted there and Modiji is trying to sell India to Adaniji, and they don’t want a discussion on that.”