Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, commemorating the 74th Constitution Day on Sunday, accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) combine of using every trick in its textbook to crush and curtail freedoms enshrined in the Constitution.
In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), Mr. Kharge said every citizen should question the attack on the ethos and values of the Constitution and described it as a “lifeline of our Democracy”.
“As we observe and celebrate the 74th Constitution Day, we bow in utmost reverence to its makers — for they guaranteed the social, economic and political rights of every Indian. Today, the spirit of our Constitution faces numerous challenges,” the Congress chief noted.
Elaborating on the challenges, he said, “Dissent is being subjugated and criminalised, institutions are being pushed to the brink of becoming pawns in the grand game of imposing an authoritarian system, hate is being served under the garb of social changes”.
“The systematic and strident attack on the Constitution by the BJP and the RSS is visible in the rampant misuse of every nut and bolt of the government machinery,” Mr. Kharge added.
The Congress chief warned that the nation could reach a tipping point “where social justice and harmony shall become a casualty and the rights of the weaker sections would be gradually seized”.
Noting the contributions of Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, K.M. Munshi, Sarojini Naidu, Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur and several others, the Congress chief said it is time to stand up to the politics of division and hate.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said 74 years ago, the Constitution of India that is Bharat, was formally adopted by the Constituent Assembly.
“The Prime Minister and his drumbeaters will of course proclaim their allegiance to it. This is sheer hypocrisy on three counts,” Mr. Ramesh alleged.
He then went to claimed that the RSS had nothing to do with the making of the Constitution and had actually opposed it.
“Second, the Prime Minister has already got some of his cheerleaders to advocate a total rewrite of the Constitution. Third, the Prime Minister has eroded the independence and professional autonomy of all Constitutional bodies and has encouraged Constitutional authorities to become blatantly partisan,” he alleged.
