The MP's remark came almost six years after he said the BJP would change the Constitution to do away with the word 'secular' in its preamble.
Published Mar 10, 2024 | 5:40 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 10, 2024 | 5:41 PM
Anantkumar Hegde, Mallikarjun Kharge.
BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde on Sunday, 10 March, said that to amend the Constitution, the public must ensure a two-thirds majority for the saffron party in Lok Sabha.
The MP’s remark came almost six years after he said the BJP would change the Constitution to do away with the word “secular” in its preamble
The BJP needs a two-thirds majority in both houses of Parliament to amend the Constitution and “set right distortions and unnecessary additions made to it by the Congress”, Hedge said, addressing a gathering here, going on to explain the numbers required to amend the preamble of the Constitution.
The party would also need to come to power in more than 20 states for this, the six-time Lok Sabha MP from Karnataka said.
Meanwhile, the Congress accused the BJP and the RSS of having a “hidden and devious” agenda of “re-writing and destroying” the Constitution while claiming that its MP Anantkumar Hegde has said the party needs 400 seats to “change the Indian Constitution”.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed the BJP MP’s reported remark was a public declaration of the “hidden intentions” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and their “Sangh Parivar”.
Party chief Mallikarjun Kharge said the BJP MP’s statement “yet again exposes Modi-RSS’ devious agenda to impose dictatorship”.
“If the Constitution has to be amended — the Congress fundamentally distorted the Constitution by forcefully filling unnecessary things in it, especially by bringing in laws that were aimed at suppressing the Hindu society — if all of this has to be changed it is not possible with this (current) majority,” Hegde said.
“If we think it can be done as Congress is not there in Lok Sabha and (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi has a two-thirds majority in Lok Sabha, and keep quiet, it is not possible,” he said, as he stressed on the BJP’s need to have a two-thirds majority in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and also win two-thirds of the States, to bring changes in the Constitution.
“Modi said — Ab ki baar 400 paar (This time it will be above 400 seats) — Why above 400? … We have a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha, (but) in the Rajya Sabha we don’t have a two-thirds majority. We have a small majority. In state governments, we don’t have an adequate majority,” Hegde said.
Hegde said the NDA winning more than 400 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls would eventually help in mustering a similar majority in the Rajya Sabha and coming to power in two-thirds of the states.
Pointing out that in the recent Rajya Sabha polls held in Karnataka, three seats were won by the Congress, while BJP got only one, the MP said that if Congress’s number increases, any Constitutional amendment made by the BJP government would not get passed in the Rajya Sabha.
Citing the example of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, he said that it was passed in the Lok Sabha and later in the Rajya Sabha “with effort”. But several state governments did not approve it, and hence it could not be implemented, he pointed out.
“Now the government plans to implement it (CAA) through an amendment. If not, the law and order will go out of hands and anti-nationals will have a free run,” Hegde said, without explaining who the “anti-nationals” are.
“If we win more than 400 Lok Sabha seats, we can win the assembly seats. Because of this more than 20 states will come to us, and we will have two-thirds majority among the state governments. With a two-thirds majority in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and among state governments — once this happens — then see how it will be,” he said.
Reacting to Hegde’s statement today, Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress chief DK Shivakumar said this showed that the BJP is anti-Constitution.
“Let him do it, amend the Constitution…this shows that the BJP government (at the Centre) and the BJP MP are against the Constitution given by Babasaheb Ambedkar. Let him get it stamped by the Prime Minister,” he told reporters in the district headquarters town of Mandya.
“The Modi Government, BJP and RSS secretly desire to impose a dictatorship, whereby they will impose their ‘Manuvaadi mindset’ on the people of India and snatch away the rights of SCs, STs and OBCs,” Kharge said in a post on X.
“There will be NO Elections, or at the most, just sham elections. Independence of institutions shall be curtailed. Freedom of expression shall be bulldozed. The RSS and the BJP will destroy our secular fabric and unity in diversity,” Kharge alleged and asserted that the Congress would not allow these “ulterior motives” of the ‘Sangh Parivar’ to succeed.
He alleged that such repeated calls by the BJP-RSS, from time to time were 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,” the Congress chief said.
“It is the solemn responsibility of every Indian to protect our democracy and the Constitution,” he said on X using the hashtag “Samvidhan Bachao BJP Hatao”.
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…
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) March 10, 2024
Rahul Gandhi alleged that the “ultimate goal of Narendra Modi and the BJP is to destroy Baba Saheb’s Constitution.”
“They hate justice, equality, civil rights and democracy. By dividing the society, enslaving the media, trammelling the right to freedom of expression and crippling independent institutions, they want to turn India’s great democracy into a narrow dictatorship by conspiring to eliminate the opposition,” he alleged in a post in Hindi on X.
The former Congress chief said they would not let these “conspiracies” with the dreams of the heroes of India’s struggle for Independence succeed and would continue to fight for the democratic rights guaranteed by the Constitution till the last breath.
“Every soldier of the Constitution, especially Dalits, tribals, backward and minorities, wake up, raise your voice – INDIA is with you,” he also said using the hashtag ‘Samvidhan Bachao BJP Hatao’.
भाजपा सांसद का बयान कि उन्हें 400 सीट संविधान बदलने के लिए चाहिए, नरेंद्र मोदी और उनके ‘संघ परिवार’ के छिपे हुए मंसूबों का सार्वजनिक ऐलान है।
नरेंद्र मोदी और भाजपा का अंतिम लक्ष्य बाबा साहेब के संविधान को ख़त्म करना है। उन्हें न्याय, बराबरी, नागरिक अधिकार और लोकतंत्र से नफ़रत…
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 10, 2024
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the BJP MP, a former Union Minister, and “Modi’s favourite” Anantkumar Hegde has only revealed what was already known. “The goal of the BJP and RSS is to overturn Babasaheb Ambedkar’a Constitution,” he alleged.
“All the prime minister’s rhetoric about crossing 400 seats is geared towards the goal of dismantling the Constitution — the last protector of the rights of India’s people, especially of Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs, and religious minorities,” he said.
“If we have to save Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution and preserve Indian democracy, we must vote the Modi Sarkar out,” Ramesh said in a post on X.
भाजपा सांसद, पूर्व केंद्रीय मंत्री और मोदी के बेहद प्रिय अनंतकुमार हेगड़े ने वही खुलासा किया है जो पहले से ही सभी को पता था: भाजपा और आरएसएस का लक्ष्य बाबासाहेब अंबेडकर के संविधान को ख़त्म करना है। 400 सीटें पार करने को लेकर प्रधानमंत्री की सारी बयानबाजी और दावे उस संविधान को… https://t.co/XKdJ6pArXG
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) March 10, 2024
In 2017, Hegde, the then Union Minister of State for Skill Development, had courted controversy for his comments regarding changing the Constitution.
Seeking to end the controversy that had stalled parliamentary proceedings at the time, Hegde had subsequently tendered an apology in the Lok Sabha after a nudge by the Speaker but maintained that his statement had been distorted.
(With PTI inputs)
