Congress reacts to Hegde's alleged remark on Constitution, says BJP-RSS agenda to impose dictatorship

The Congress on Sunday accused the BJP and RSS of having a "hidden and devious" agenda of "re-writing and destroying" the Constitution while claiming that its Karnataka MP Anantkumar Hegde has said the party needs 400 seats to "change the Indian Constitution".

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi claimed the BJP MP's reported remark was a public declaration of the "hidden intentions" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and their "sangh parivar". Party president Mallikarjun Kharge said the BJP MP'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 'Manuvadi mindset' on the people of India and snatch away the rights of SCs, STs and OBCs," he said in a post on X.

"There will be NO Elections, or at the most, just sham elections. Independence of institutions shall be curtailed. Freedom of expression shall be bulldozed. The RSS and the BJP will destroy our secular fabric and unity in diversity," Kharge said and asserted that the Congress would not allow these "ulterior motives" of the 'sangh parivar' to succeed.

He alleged that such repeated calls by the BJP-RSS from time to time were a "direct assault" on the "unquestionable ethos of sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic espoused by our Constitution makers".

"Justice, Equality, and Liberty are the strong pillars of the Constitution and any change in these principles would be an insult to the India envisioned by Babasaheb Dr Ambedkar and our revered founders," the Congress chief wrote. "It is the solemn responsibility of every Indian to protect our democracy and the Constitution," he added, using the hashtag Samvidhan bachao BJP hatao (save the Constitution, remove the BJP).

Gandhi alleged that the "ultimate goal of Narendra Modi and the BJP is to destroy Baba Saheb's Constitution".

"They hate justice, equality, civil rights and democracy. By dividing the society, enslaving the media, suppressing the right to freedom of expression and crippling independent institutions, they want to turn India's great democracy into a narrow dictatorship by conspiring to eliminate the opposition," he said in a post in Hindi on X.

The Congress MP said they would not let these "conspiracies" with the dreams of the heroes of India's struggle for Independence succeed and would continue to fight for the democratic rights guaranteed by the Constitution till the last breath.

"Every soldier of the Constitution, especially Dalits, tribals, backward and minorities, wake up, raise your voice — INDIA is with you," he wrote, also using the samvidhan bachao BJP hatao hashtag.

Congress general-secretary and MP Jairam Ramesh said Hegde, a former Union Minister and "Modi's favourite", has only revealed what was already known. "The goal of the BJP and RSS is to overturn Babasaheb Ambedkar'a Constitution," he alleged.

"All the prime minister's rhetoric about crossing 400 seats is geared towards the goal of dismantling the Constitution — the last protector of the rights of India's people, especially of Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs, and religious minorities," Ramesh said in a post on X. "If we have to save Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution and preserve Indian democracy, we must vote the Modi Sarkar out."

The Karnataka BJP MP reportedly said the Constitution needs to be changed "to save our religion", and the only way the BJP can do it is if the party can win over 400 Lok Sabha seats.