NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday launched a blistering attack on Congress for allegedly distributing blank copies of the Constitution at Rahul Gandhi’s Samvidhan Samman Sammelan convention in Nagpur.
BJP accused the Congress leader of insulting the Constitution and Dr BR Ambedkar and said that anti-reservation and anti-Constitution character has been revealed.
“Insulting the Constitution and BR Ambedkar is the true identity of Congress. At their so-called Samvidhan Samman Sammelan, Congress distributed copies of the Constitution. The cover was red, leaving out the usual blue,” BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said.
“Strangely, the inside of the copies was blank. This is an insult to the Constitution and a grave insult to Ambedkar. Congress has repeatedly insulted the Constitution and Ambedkar in this manner. They defeated Ambedkar in elections twice. Recently, Ambedkar’s picture was placed on the ground. Nehru spoke against reservations in 1961. Indira and Rajiv opposed the Mandal Commission’s recommendations in the past,” he added.
The colour of the copy of the Constitution carried by Rahul Gandhi also became the subject of political wrangling in poll-bound Maharashtra as BJP alleged that the grand-old-party destroyed the original copy of the Constitution, which had pictures of Lord Ram, Lord Krishna, and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
“This is the party that destroyed the original copy of the Constitution, which had pictures of Lord Ram, Lord Krishna, and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. They have insulted and mocked every constitutional institution, from the judiciary to the election commission, and continue to do so,” Poonawala said.
“When they lose elections, they question constitutional institutions, and today they have distributed an empty copy of the Constitution. What does an empty copy mean? It shows how much they value the Constitution and what they truly think. Recently, Rahul Gandhi and Nana Patole also said they would end reservations. The Congress party is actually anti-reservation and anti-Constitution, and their true character has been revealed,” he added.
This comes a day after Rahul Gandhi once again advocated for a caste census and said the exercise will happen in the country and it will show the injustice meted out to Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis.
Addressing the Samvidhan Samman Sammelan, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha hit out at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing them of attacking the Constitution and thereby attacking the “voice of the country”.
“Caste census will give justice to general (category), Dalits, Adivasis, minorities, women and all others,” he said. “Caste census will make everything clear. Everyone will come to know how much power they wield and what our role is,” he said, adding,” We will also break the 50 per cent wall.”
The Maharashtra Assembly elections will take place on November 20, with the counting of votes for all 288 constituencies set for November 23.
In the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena secured 56, and Congress 44. In 2014, the BJP won 122 seats, Shiv Sena 63, and Congress 42.