Kolkata: Trinamul Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien filed a privilege notice against Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday, following his controversial remarks about Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. The remarks led to widespread protests by the Opposition in both Houses of Parliament, forcing adjournments.

Shah, in a speech on Tuesday, had made disparaging comments about Ambedkar, calling it "fashionable" to repeat his name. "If people took God's name like this, they could have earned heaven for seven births," Shah said, before listing alleged slights against Ambedkar by previous Congress governments.

In response, O'Brien submitted the privilege notice against Shah, as Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee condemned his speech. On social media, Banerjee said Shah's remarks tarnished the 75th anniversary of the Constitution. She accused the BJP of casteist and anti-Dalit attitudes and suggested that had the BJP's dream of 400 seats materialized, they would have rewritten history to erase Ambedkar's contributions.

Banerjee stressed that Ambedkar, the Father of the Constitution, deserved respect. "Shah's remark was an attack not only on Ambedkar but also on the Constitution's drafting committee, which represented India's unity in diversity," she added. Trinamul also suggested that Shah's comments were deliberate, not accidental.

Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, joined the protests, demanding an apology from Shah. Gandhi called Ambedkar the architect of the Constitution, asserting that the country would not tolerate his insult.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray also criticized Shah's remarks, accusing the BJP of arrogance and disrespecting Maharashtra’s icons, including Ambedkar and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He questioned whether BJP allies supported Shah’s comments.