NEW DELHI: Claiming RSS had opposed the newly adopted Constitution by burning the effigy of B R Ambedkar at a rally in Ramlila Maidan in 1949, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said PM Narendra Modi and RSS offering flowers to Ambedkar and reading the Preamble mark the biggest victory for the founding fathers of the republic.“Today Modi lectures us on colonisation, but they belong to an ideology that boycotted the freedom struggle and sided with the British,” he said, adding, “People know BJP and RSS are destroying the Constitution, and their show of respect for it is a sham.”
As it participated in the Constitution Day celebrations, Congress also held a nationwide protest – “samvidhan bachao divas” – to highlight “the growing attack on the Constitution marked by systematic vote theft, abuse of institutions, dubious-SIR driven attempts to distort the electoral rolls”. The protest was held in all the districts, the party said.Kharge said secularism, harmony and equality became India’s identity because of the Constitution, but “that identity is now under a serious threat”. He added, “Today, there is an urgent need to safeguard the fundamental principles of the Constitution – justice, equality, liberty, fraternity, secularism and socialism.”Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the Constitution represents a sacred promise of equality and justice to every citizen, irrespective of religion, caste, region, language or social status. “Let us pledge that we will not allow any attack on the Constitution. It is my duty to protect the Constitution, and I will be the first to oppose any assault on it,” he said.
