A disciplinary committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre on Monday stepped in to look into the “amend Constitution” remark passed by party’s MP Ananth Kumar Hegde. The saffron camp, however, clarified that such comments are “unacceptable”.
Hegde on Sunday asked voters to ensure two-thirds majority for the BJP in the Lower House of the Parliament, so that the Constitution can be amended to “set right distortions and unnecessary additions made to it by the Congress”.
Further, the BJP MP said, “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.”
However, the very same day, the saffron party distanced itself from the MP’s comments stating that his remarks are “his personal view and do not reflect the party’s stance”.
“@BJP4India reaffirms our unwavering commitment to uphold the nation’s Constitution and will ask for an explanation from Shri Hegde regarding his comments,” the party’s Karnataka unit said in a post on X.
Hegde had pressed on the BJP’s need to have two-thirds majority in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and also in the states to be able to bring changes in the Constitution.
In 2017 as well, while serving as the Union Minister of State for Skill Development, Hegde had passed a controversial remark about changing the Constitution.
He had said that the BJP would change the Constitution to do away with the word “secular” in the preamble. Subsequently, to rectify the controversy, Hegde had submitted an apology in the Lok Sabha but continued to assert that his statement had been distorted.
RULING CONGRESS’ REACTION
Meanwhile, reacting to Hegde’s remarks, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said, “This is not the first time he has made such statements. Earlier also when he was a minister, he used to pass controversial statements.”
The Congress-led government took a swipe at the BJP and said that this was its “hidden agenda to change the constitution”.
“To not uplift the poor but to change the constitution they need two-third majority. They want to keep it like Manusmriti,” the Karnataka CM said. He added that if changes are made to the Constitution, then the nation will witness “bloodshed”.
Jibing at the saffron camp for ‘distancing itself’ from Hegde’s remarks, Siddaramaiah said, “How can it be an independent statement? He is a sitting MP. How can they say they have nothing to do with Ananth’s statement?”
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar had also on Sunday reacted to the BJP MP’s remark saying that it shows that the party is anti-Constitution.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram also slammed Hegde’s comment and said that if the Constitution is amended according to the BJP-RSS agenda, it will be the end of parliamentary democracy, federalism, rights of the minorities, and English being one of the two official languages.
In a post on X, Chidambaram said, “The BJP’s intention to amend the Constitution was never a secret. Dozens of BJP leaders in private conversations have said that India must be a Hindu Rashtra, that Hindi must be the sole official language of India and the central government must be strong and prevail over the state governments”
“Sometimes, members like Mr Ananthakumar Hegde MP spill the beans, and quickly deny their words,” he wrote.
This is an old ploy, the former Union minister said, adding that, “The purpose is achieved and the RSS/BJP cadres are enthused that BJP continues to nurture the idea of amending the Constitution.”