Asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his silence on the comments made by his ministerial colleague Ananth Kumar Hegde about changing the Constitution, the Congress on Tuesday said the Minister’s comments reflected the “sinister design of the RSS and the BJP to impose their ideology on the people of India”.
The party raised other controversial comments made by BJP Ministers including one by Hansraj Ahir, Minister of State for Home Affairs, about doctors.
At a press conference, Congress spokespersons Gaurav Gogoi and Khusboo Sundar said that while the BJP propagated their love for Dr. B.R. Ambedkar to garner votes, Ministers in the Modi government were denigrating the Constitution drafted by him and openly talking about changing it.
“It is diametrically opposite to the liberal and inclusive traditions of India and the progressive thoughts of Babasaheb Ambedkar and the makers of Modern India. Therefore we take strong exception to this remark,” Mr. Gogoi said.
On Sunday, addressing a public function at Kukkanur in Karnataka, Mr. Hegde, Minister of State for Employment and Skill Development, had said, “The Constitution needs to be changed from time to time and we have come for that.”
The Minister lashed out at those who called themselves secular. “Those claiming to be secular and progressive do not have an identity of their parents and their blood. One will get self-respect through such identity,” he said. “I will be happy if someone identifies as Muslim, Christian, Brahmin, Lingayat or Hindu. But trouble will arise if they say they are secular.”
Ahir’s comments
The Congress also raised the issue of Mr. Ahir allegedly comparing doctors to Naxals, and called it “an insult to medical profession”.
“Taking a cue from his seniors in the Modi government, another Cabinet Minister in the BJP government of Uttar Pradesh, Prakash Rajbharhas, insulted Dalits and the downtrodden by saying that poor vote because of alcohol and chicken,” Mr. Gogoi said.
The party attacked the BJP-ruled States for their “failure” to stop the rising crimes against women. Quoting National Crime Records Bureau statistics, Ms. Sundar said Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra topped the chart in rape and abduction of women.
Citing the rape of a 15-year-old girl in Muzaffarnagar at gunpoint on Sunday, Ms. Sundar said, “Prime Minister Modi always begins his speeches by saying brothers and sisters but has not been able to protect the sisters. Maybe he should stop this practice [addressing the women as sisters] as he has failed to perform the duty of a brother who protects the dignity of women.”
