Stalin takes veiled swipe at BJP, PM for attacking Congress, Ambedkar

Chennai, Dec 18 (PTI) Without naming the BJP or Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tamil Nau Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday hit out at the ruling party at the Centre for targeting DMK's key ally Congress over the Constitution and Dr B R Ambedkar.

In a cryptic, brief post in Tamil on 'X,' Stalin said: "Only those who commit more sins should be concerned about 'punya' (Good deeds). Those who are concerned about the country, its people and the protection of Constitution will only utter the name of Babasaheb Dr Ambedkar and they will have to utter only his name." Though the Dravidian party chief did not explain, his comments comes immediately after PM Modi listed the 'sins' of Congress against Ambedkar and broadly against the background of the BJP attacking the Congress over the debate on Constitution in Parliament.

Modi listed the Congress party's sins against Ambedkar, which includes getting him defeated in elections, not once but twice. "Pandit Nehru campaigning against him and making his loss a prestige issue. Denying him a Bharat Ratna. Denying his portrait a place of pride in Parliament’s Central Hall," Modi said in a post on 'X' on December 18.

On Tuesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the BJP is happy that the Congress is taking Ambedkar’s name but the party should also speak about its real sentiments towards him.

Shah pointed out how Ambedkar had to resign from the first Cabinet citing his disagreement with the then Congress-led government’s policies, including Article 370. The home minister also said most of the memorials of Ambedkar were built when the BJP came to power.

"How appropriate is it for you to use the name of a person for vote bank politics whom you used to oppose?" Shah asked Congress top leader Mallikarjun Kharge.

On December 14, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju tore into the Congress for not giving Ambedkar his due, as he questioned the opposition's claims that minorities were being denied their rights. PTI