Congress's South Goa candidate Viriato Fernandes has stirred a controversy on after he claimed that the Indian Constitution was “forced” on Goa after its liberation from Portuguese rule in 1961. Fernandes made the statements while referring to his conversation with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in 2019.
Also read: Amid ‘Muslims’ remark row, PM Narendra Modi claims 'Hanuman Chalisa a crime' under Congress rule
“We (during a meeting with Gandhi) raised 12 demands before Gandhi, and one of them was about dual citizenship. Gandhi asked me whether the demand was constitutional. We said no…I explained to him that the Indian Constitution came into force on January 26, 1950. When Goa was liberated from Portuguese rule in 1961, you (referring to the then central government) forced the Constitution on us. We were not included in it,” the Congress leader, a supporter of dual citizenship for Goans who have opted for Portuguese passports, said on Monday while addressing an election rally in South Goa.
A day later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at Congress over Fernandes' remarks, saying that the grand old party had been “indulging in appeasement since day one after independence”.
“Congress is not able to digest the participation of Dalits, Adivasis, and backward classes in power. Now the party has started a big game. Earlier a Congress MP from Karnataka said south India should be declared a separate country, now a Congress candidate from Goa said the Indian Constitution is not applicable in Goa…He is saying the Constitution was forced on Goa…Isn't this an insult to Babasaheb Ambedkar? Isn't this an insult to the Constitution? Is this not tampering with the Constitution of India?”, PM Modi said while addressing a rally in Chhattisgarh.
Also read: ‘Congress leaders consider themselves above Lord Ram’: PM Modi in Chhattisgarh
{{/usCountry}}“Congress is not able to digest the participation of Dalits, Adivasis, and backward classes in power. Now the party has started a big game. Earlier a Congress MP from Karnataka said south India should be declared a separate country, now a Congress candidate from Goa said the Indian Constitution is not applicable in Goa…He is saying the Constitution was forced on Goa…Isn't this an insult to Babasaheb Ambedkar? Isn't this an insult to the Constitution? Is this not tampering with the Constitution of India?”, PM Modi said while addressing a rally in Chhattisgarh.
Also read: ‘Congress leaders consider themselves above Lord Ram’: PM Modi in Chhattisgarh
{{/usCountry}}In an apparent swipe at Rahul Gandhi, PM Modi said, “The Congress candidate made this statement publicly which meant he had the support of his leader.”
“…It is a ploy to break the country. A huge part of the country has rejected Congress, and therefore the party wants to create such small islands. Today, Congress was rejecting the Constitution in Goa, and tomorrow it would do the same in the entire country,” he added.
‘Appalled’: Goa CM on Congress candidate
Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant said that the is “appalled” by Fernandes' comments, and also hit out at the Congress party, calling it is a “threat to democracy”.
“Our freedom fighters believed wholeheartedly that Goa is an inseparable part of India. Congress delayed Goa's liberation by 14 years. Now, their candidate dares to undermine the Indian Constitution?…Congress must stop this reckless Bharat Todo politics immediately. Congress is a threat to our democracy,” Sawant wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
(With inputs from ANI, PTI)