Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday described the Congress’ allegation that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) intended to abolish the Indian Constitution a “broken record” that the party has been playing during elections over the past three decades.
Speaking at an election rally in Chhattisgarh’s Sakti district, he also attempted to flip the argument by accusing the Congress of indulging in a “ploy” to break the country. Citing a remark by a Congress Lok Sabha candidate from Goa that the Constitution was imposed on the coastal State, he further alleged that the Congress planned to reject “Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution”.
“And friends, you must have seen that, at least for the last 30 years, whenever elections come, they keep playing the same broken record in our ears — see these BJP people will come, they will abolish the Constitution, Bharatiya Janata Party people will come and abolish reservation. For how long will you keep telling lies? Take my words in writing, let alone Modi, let alone BJP, even if Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar himself says, it is not going to happen. No one can change the Constitution,” Mr. Modi said towards the end of his speech.
Earlier, he referred to a purported statement by the Congress candidate from South Goa, Viriato Fernandes, to allege that such statements were an insult to the Constitution of India and amounted to tampering with it.
On Monday, Mr. Fernandes had said that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had said Goa would decide its own destiny after it was liberated from Portuguese rule, but “this did not happen”, and the Indian Constitution was “forced” on the State.
“A Congress MP in Karnataka is talking about creating a separate country by merging the southern States, Congress candidates from Goa are publicly saying that the Constitution of India will not work in Goa, this Constitution has been imposed on Goa. It was once said in Jammu and Kashmir that the Constitution of India will not work, but today they have stopped talking,” said Mr. Modi.
He also claimed that such statements had approval from senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
“Goa’s Congress candidate has made public the discussion he had with Rahul Gandhi, which clearly means that Rahul Gandhi has tacit consent in this. Congress people have become distraught after being rejected in a large part of the country and hence are creating such islands within the country. Today they are rejecting the Constitution of India in Goa, tomorrow they will commit the sin of rejecting the Constitution of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in the country. This is a well-planned move by the Congress to break the country,” Mr. Modi said.
Addressing a rally in support of Kamlesh Jangde and Radheshyam Rathiya, the BJP candidates from Janjgir-Champa and Raigarh Lok Sabha constituencies, respectively, in Chhattisgarh, Mr. Modi said that the Congress had been dividing people for its “appeasement politics”.
“Vote bank politics is in the DNA of Congress and for this, it does not shy away from violating the rights of Dalits, deprived people, tribals, and backward people,” Mr. Modi said. Janjgir-Champa and Raigarh are constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, respectively.
Mr. Modi further questioned the Congress leadership for skipping the consecration ceremony of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya earlier this year. “They consider themselves bigger than Lord Ram and they turned down the invitation to the pran pratishtha event. Is this not an insult to saints, [to] Mata Shabari (a mythological character from the Ramayan), and this region is Mata Shabri’s. Chhattisgarh is the maternal home of Lord Ram. I ask you, is this an insult to Chhattisgarh or not?” Mr. Modi said.
At another rally in Dhamtari, a part of the Mahasamund constituency, Mr. Modi listed out the development projects taken up for Chhattisgarh, and alleged that the Congress had remained silent on “Naxal violence in Chhattisgarh”, and that it “encouraged violence to hide its corruption”.
