After Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Anantkumar Hegde’s controversial statement regarding “rewriting the Indian Constitution” caused a political flutter senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said that the “BJP’s intention” to amend the Constitution was “never a secret.”
“The BJP’s intention to amend the Constitution was never a secret Dozens of BJP leaders in private conversations have said that India must be a Hindu Rashtra, that Hindi must be the sole official language of India and the central government must be strong and prevail over the state governments,” Chidambaram said in a post on ‘X’ in an attack at the BJP.
Chidambaram said that Hegde’s controversial statement and then going back on it is an “old ploy” just to “enthuse” the party cadres.
“Sometimes, members like Mr Ananthakumar Hegde MP spill the beans, and quickly deny their words. This is an old ploy. The purpose is achieved and the RSS/BJP cadres are enthused that BJP continues to nurture the idea of amending the Constitution,” he said.
The senior Congress leader warned that amending the Constitution will signal an end of Parliamentary democracy, Federalism and rights of the Minorities.
“If the Constitution is amended according to the RSS/BJP agenda, that will be the end of Parliamentary democracy, Federalism, rights of the Minorities, and the English language being one of the two official languages,” Chidambaram said.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge also criticised the BJP MP for his statement.
“BJP MP’s statement that they need 400 seats to rewrite the Constitution, yet again exposes Modi-RSS’ devious agenda to impose dictatorship! Modi Govt, BJP and RSS secretly desire impose Dictatorship, whereby — They will impose their Manuvaadi Mindset on the people of India and snatch away the rights of SCs, STs and OBC’s. — There will be NO Elections, or at the most, just sham elections. — Independence of institutions shall be curtailed. — Freedom of expression shall be bulldozed. — RSS & BJP will destroy our Secular fabric and unity in diversity” the Congress President said in his post on X on Sunday.
“Indian National Congress will not allow these ulterior motives of the Sangh Parivar to succeed. Such repeated calls by the BJP-RSS, from time to time are a direct assault on the unquestionable ethos of Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic espoused by our Constitution makers. Justice, Equality, and Liberty are the strong pillars of the Constitution and any change in these principles would be an insult to the India envisioned by Babasaheb Dr Ambedkar and our revered founders. It is the solemn responsibility of every Indian to protect our Democracy and Constitution” he added.
Earlier, Ananthkumar Hegde had said it is necessary for the BJP to gain a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha and also come to power in more than 20 States to “amend the Constitution”.
The BJP on Sunday distanced itself from Hegde’s statement saying that his views on the Constitution are his personal and that the party have sought a response from the Karnataka MP. (ANI)
