BJP distances itself from Hegde’s ‘changing the Constitution’ claim

The Union minister of state for skill development and entrepreneurship had on Monday said the BJP was in power to change the Constitution.

Two days after Union minister Anantkumar Hegde started a row by saying the BJP would remove the word “secular” from the Constitution, his party distanced itself from his remark.

Minister for skill development and entrepreneurship Ananth Kumar Hegde. (Photo: Twitter)

“The party doesn’t want to get involved with what he said. What he spoke about is not an issue for us,” BJP’s spokesperson for Karnataka, Vaman Acharya, said. Meanwhile, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah hit out at Hegde, saying a ‘Manuvadi’ like him does not understand the Constitution.

Speaking at an event on Sunday, Hegde also took a dig at secularism, saying it was a new trend followed by those did not know their parentage. The Union minister of state for skill development said he felt happy when people identified themselves as Muslim, Christian, Lingayat, Brahmin, or a Hindu. “Those are people who know their history. But I do not know how to address those who call themselves secular. Those who do not know their parents call themselves secular.”

Hegde said he would prostrate before those who identified themselves by their religion or caste, “but I get suspicious when someone claims to be secular,” he said.

“Some people say that the Constitution says [Secular]. That is true and we respect the Constitution. But the Constitution has changed many times in the past and will change in coming days. It is to change the Constitution that we have come,” he said. He added that those accusing the right wing of wanting to follow Manusmriti did not know that smritis were the Constitutions of their times.

The minister’s statement also drew a sharp response from the Congress. “It is not a secret that the sole agenda of RSS and BJP is to change and modify the basic nature and structure of the Constitution and to impose their hate filled, bigoted and prejudiced ideology on India and its people,” spokesperson Gaurav Gogoi said.

(With inputs from HTC, Delhi)