A BJP MP from Karnataka stirred up a political storm on Sunday after he allegedly urged people to ensure a two-thirds majority for the saffron party in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha so that the Constitution could be amended.
“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,” Anantkumar Hegde said, addressing a gathering in Karwar.
Hegde alleged that the Congress party had fundamentally distorted the Constitution by “forcefully filling unnecessary things in it”, especially by bringing in laws that were “aimed at suppressing Hindu society”.
A majority in the Lok Sabha alone is not adequate to amend the Constitution, the MP said. “The BJP needs a two-thirds majority in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and should also win two-thirds of the states to bring changes in the Constitution”.
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.
As his remarks drew flak from various quarters, the BJP distanced itself from the issue, saying what the MP said was his personal opinion.
"MP Ananthkumar Hegde's remarks on the Constitution are his personal views and do not reflect the party's stance. BJP reaffirms our unwavering commitment to uphold the nation's Constitution and will ask for an explanation from Hegde regarding his comments,” the BJP Karnataka unit said in a post on X.
The party’s national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said the BJP has always acted in line with constitutional ethos and national interest.
The Congress targeted the Narendra Modi government, saying Hegde’s remarks showed that the BJP was “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," said Karnataka deputy chief minister and state Congress chief D.K. Shivakumar.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the BJP MP's remark was a public declaration of the "hidden intentions" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and their "Sangh Parivar".
Party chief Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that Hegde's statement "yet again exposes Modi-RSS' devious agenda to impose dictatorship".
"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," he said in a post on X.
With PTI inputs