Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Anant Kumar Hegde stirred a fresh controversy with his remarks that “BJP securing over 400 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections” will lead to the enactment of “changes in the Indian constitution”. Speaking at Halageri, a village in Haveri district’s Siddapura on Saturday, March 9, Anant Kumar spoke about the significance of attaining the numerical threshold of 400 seats, pointing out that while the BJP enjoys a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha, similar dominance is lacking in the Rajya Sabha and in various state governments.
He said, "Modi ji said that we need to secure more than 400 seats this time. Why 400? We currently have a 2/3 majority in the Lok Sabha, but we lack the same in the Rajya Sabha where our majority is lesser. Additionally, we lack the required majority in the state governments."
The MP further said that achieving a substantial majority in both houses of Parliament and state governments is essential for implementing significant changes to the Constitution. “If we are to make amendments to the Constitution, like the ones Congress made, twisting the fundamental principles of the Constitution and introducing provisions and laws that oppressed Hindus, then this majority won’t suffice.”
In response to Anant Kumar’s statement, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on March 10 said that his comments are “a public declaration of the hidden intentions of Narendra Modi and the Sangh Parivar.”
Rahul Gandhi elaborated, “The ultimate goal of Narendra Modi and BJP is to destroy Baba Saheb's Constitution. They hate justice, equality, civil rights, and democracy. By dividing the society, enslaving the media, withholding the 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 they would not let these “conspiracies” succeed along with the dreams of India’s Freedom heroes and would “continue to fight for the democratic rights guaranteed by the Constitution till our last breath.”
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said, “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 alleged that such calls by BJP-RSS were a “direct assault on the unquestionable ethos of sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic espoused by our Constitution makers.”
Using the hashtag ‘Samvidhan Bachao Modi Hatao’ (Save Constitution, Remove Modi) Kharge said, “It is the solemn responsibility of every Indian to protect our democracy and the Constitution.”
Karnataka Congress took to X (formerly Twitter) to attack the BJP’s repeated attempts to meddle with the Constitution. The Congress said, “The BJP MP who had earlier said, ‘We have come to change the Constitution’ has now said ‘We will amend the Constitution’. What is the true intention behind the statement of MP Anant Kumar Hegde who went from ‘changing' to ‘amending’? Is constitutional amendment an election issue for the BJP? Is it an issue to be discussed on the streets? Is the motive behind the ‘amendment’ statement, to actually ‘change’ it? Why does the BJP always create an issue out of the Constitution? Are members of the BJP unable to live under the Constitution drafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar?”
Anant Kumar Hegde is no stranger to controversies. In 2017, when he was the Union Minister of State for Employment and Skill Development, he mocked secularism and had sought reforms in the Constitution. He had said, “I respect the constitution but the Constitution has changed according to the times on many occasions in the past and it will change in the future. We are here to change the Constitution.”
In 2016, the MP had reportedly told media persons that there will be terrorism in the world as long as Islam exists.
Read: 'Secular people don't know their parental blood': Central Minister Anantkumar Hegde