The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is intent on turning the Constitution upside down and erasing the word ‘secular’ from it, said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Tuesday.
Mr. Pawar was speaking at the ‘Samvidhan Bachao Parishad’ (Save the Constitution Conference) organized by the NCP women’s wing in Aurangabad district.
“BJP leader [and Minister of State for Skill Development] Anant Kumar Hegde had openly said in the Lok Sabha last year that his party had come to power to change the Constitution. His statements are a reflection of the true intentions of Narendra Modi,” said Mr. Pawar.
It will be a “social and economic disaster for the country and the State” if the BJP came to power for a second term, he added.
The NCP leader alleged that the BJP had plunged Maharashtra into a ₹5 lakh crore debt, while utterly failing to generate employment. “The BJP seems to have no agenda for the backward classes or the minorities. It is only bent on polarizing society along caste and communal lines,” Mr. Pawar said.
Senior NCP leaders MP Supriya Sule and Dhananjay Munde, the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council were also present at the event.
If the BJP comes to power again, it will overturn the Constitution given to us by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar by 2022 and destabilize the country, Mr. Munde said.
Referring to Mr. Pawar as the “future Chief Minister,” Mr. Munde said that freedom of speech and dissent was being gagged by the NDA government. “Journalists are not being allowed to present the true picture. Constitutional rights are being trampled upon. Now, it is up to the electorate to change the political scenario by voting the BJP out,” he said.
