‘Need 2/3rd majority to change or make new Constitution’ — BJP Ayodhya MP’s remark sparks row

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Lucknow:  The government will need a two-thirds majority in Parliament to “make a new Constitution”, Ayodhya’s sitting BJP MP Lallu Singh purportedly said at a public meeting in Milkipur assembly constituency last week — the third party leader to make such remarks in the last two months.

In a video that has now gone viral on social media platforms, Lallu Singh, who has once again been fielded from the seat, was heard saying that while a government can be formed even with 272 seats, “a government formed with 272 seats cannot amend the Constitution”. 

“For that, or even if a new Constitution is to be made, there is a need of over two-thirds majority,” he’s heard saying. 

ThePrint has not independently verified the video, purportedly shot at the MP’s election meeting Friday. However, the remarks come on Ambedkar Jayanti — celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of Dalit icon B.R. Ambedkar who headed the committee drafting the Constitution after India’s independence. 

They also come amid the Opposition’s allegations that the BJP was systematically trying to overhaul the Constitution.

On his part, the Ayodhya MP put it down to a “slip of the tongue”.  

“I have been an RSS worker and have a habit of talking like this about the welfare of the country. I was simply saying that to make our country great, we have to ensure that PM Modi comes to power again and that we may need to make constitutional amendments for which we have to ensure that we get over two-thirds majority,” he said. 

He added that he didn’t say it with “any wrong intentions”. “Our leader Modi ji himself has said that not even Ambedkar can change the Constitution even if he comes back, what more is needed?” he asked.

However, the speech gave fresh ammunition to the Opposition, which tried to corner the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre. Congress leader Pawan Khera said the remarks came to light days after Modi had assured the country that the Constitution couldn’t be changed “even if Ambedkar himself tried to do it”.

“Now, the current BJP MP from Ayodhya is openly stating that 400 seats were needed to change the Constitution. Will Modi ji forgive them?” he asked on X. 

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, meanwhile called on the Election Commission of India to take cognisance of the speech. Accusing the BJP of “wanting to enslave 90-95 percent of the people”, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said that the PDA — or the pichde (backwards), Dalit, alpsankhyak (minorities) group, whose votes the SP is trying to corner — will help “defeat the BJP”.   

“BJP wants to finish the reservation given to the backwards, Dalits, minorities after making a new Constitution, which is why PDA will together defeat the BJP. The BJP wants to win, not to serve the public or for its welfare but so that it can change the Constitution made by Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar,” the CM said on X, wondering if this wasn’t a “violation of the Model Code of Conduct”.

Ayodhya will vote in the third phase of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The BJP, which won 303 seats in the 2019 general election, is eyeing 370 seats this time.

Also Read: In ex-UP DGP’s memoir, stories of secret meet with Gogoi before Ayodhya verdict & ‘rattling’ BSP

Previous remarks on Constitution

Lallu is the third BJP leader after six-time Uttara Kannada MP Anantkumar Hegde and Rajasthan’s Jyoti Mirdha to make such comments in the last two months.

Addressing an election meeting in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada, Hegde said amending the Constitution was not possible with the BJP’s current majority. 

“If the Constitution has to be amended…the Congress which fundamentally distorted the Constitution by forcefully filling it with unnecessary things, 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,” Hegde had said. 

After the remarks kicked up a political storm, the BJP distanced itself from them saying that they were Hegde’s personal views. He was eventually dropped as the party’s Uttara Kannada candidate.

BJP’s Nagaur candidate Jyoti Mirdha also courted controversy earlier this month when she said the party needed seats in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha if they wanted to make changes to the Constitution.

“Several tough decisions need to be taken in the country’s interest. We have to make constitutional amendments for them. If we have to make amendments to the Constitution, many of you would know that we need the nod of both Houses of Parliament, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha,” Mirdha, who switched over to the BJP from the Congress last year, told a crowd in an undated video.

The comments drew backlash from Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Jairam Ramesh. 

Posting the video on X, Thiruvananthapuram MP Tharoor referred to Hegde’s remarks the previous month.

“After Anant Hegde let the cat out of the bag, BJP leaders hastily stuffed it back in and dropped him from their candidate list. Now another BJP candidate openly says the BJP aims to change the Constitution,” Tharoor said on X.  

Replying to the thread, the All India Congress Committee general secretary hinted that the prime minister himself was involved.  

“These are all orchestrated by the MahaSutradhar (main narrator) himself,” he said in X. “It is deliberate strategy.”

Also Read: OBC leader who stirred Ramcharitmanas row, serial party hopper — who is Swami Prasad Maurya

 

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