“Only those who have committed more sins and are burdened by them, have to worry about virtue,” Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said on Wednesday, castigating Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remark on the architect of the constitution, Dr BR Ambedkar.

The BJP strongman’s ridicule of the opposition for invoking Ambedkar had infuriated the DMK and its allies in Tamil Nadu with the Chief Minister, also president of the ruling DMK, taking to his ‘X’ handle charging the BJP as a party of sinners. “Those who are concerned about the country and the people as well protecting the constitution would raise the name of Ambedkar, the revolutionary leader. And, they had to,” he wrote.

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Condemning Shah for his speech, Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, in a post on ‘X’ said “Instead of being a tourist guide for different destinations, let him carry out his duty as the Home Minister. When the fascists are bent upon dismantling the constitution given by Ambedkar, whose name irritates them, we will raise his name many hundred times. Long live Ambedkar.”

“The mask has fallen” was the reaction of key DMK ally and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) president Thol Thirumavalavan, MP. “How can the heirs of Savarkar digest the whole country speaking about Ambedkar? Amit Shah has revealed the true face of the Sangh Parivar and the mask has fallen. The constitution and Dr Ambedkar are their real enemies. The VCK is consistently exposing this. The Sangh Parivar praising Ambedkar is a ploy to hoodwink the common people,” the Dalit leader wrote on ‘X’, adding “With the revolutionary leader Ambedkar taking Viswarupam, the machinations of Sanatanis will be turned to ashes.”