PM Modi counters opposition: ‘I’m indebted to Constitution, it’s article of faith for us'

PATNA/GAYA: In a strong affirmation of the Constitution’s primacy amid claims by the opposition that BJP intends to “scrap” it if voted back to office, PM Narendra Modi said Tuesday that he was indebted to “Ambedkar’s samvidhan” for preserving the country’s diversity, facilitating equitable economic growth and enabling someone like him to “rise from humble origins to become PM”.

“The Constitution has served its purpose, keeping the country one and united. For us, it is sacred, and a repository of our aastha (faith),” Modi said in Gaya, the first of his campaign stops for the day in Bihar.

The PM’s statement came a day after RJD chief Lalu Prasad raked up alleged utterances by BJP and RSS functionaries that the party would change the Constitution if it received a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

Modi said neither he nor BJP would consider attempting such an abomination, adding that even Ambedkar couldn’t have changed the Constitution he authored.

The PM reminded the gathering that contrary to allegations levelled against BJP, it was RJD’s ally Congress that imposed the infamous Emergency decades ago, entailing the suspension of several constitutional rights and provisions.

“Our opponents are those who held the Constitution hostage and tried to tamper with it during Emergency. Those who want to confine governance to a family will always treat the Constitution with disdain—so much so that they threaten not to accept the outcome of polls held under its provisions,” he said.

In 2015, Lalu played on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s call for a “review” of the Constitution as a threat to reservation for backward classes. BJP-led NDA lost in the assembly polls that year.

Modi criticised Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for questioning the need for a Samvidhan Diwas (Constitution Day), saying it was part of the INDIA bloc’s strategy of “building a narrative that if Modi comes to office, he would change the Constitution”.

The rally in Gaya also served as an opportunity to placate disgruntled faces in NDA. Those on the dais with the PM included Pashupati Kumar Paras, who recently resigned from the Union Cabinet in protest against BJP purportedly favouring his estranged nephew Chirag Paswan. There was also Ashwini Kumar Choubey, who missed out on BJP’s ticket for Buxar, which he has represented for two consecutive terms.

Modi said in both Gaya and Purnia that BJP’s poll manifesto was an expression of its “vision and roadmap” for a “fully developed India by 2047”.

(With inputs from agencies)

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