Congress urges ECI to bar Anantkumar Hegde from contesting LS polls

March 12, 2024 08:58 pm | Updated 08:58 pm IST - Belagavi

Election Commission of India should bar BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde from contesting Lok Sabha elections for his remarks about changing some provisions of the Constitution, some Congress leaders demanded in Dharwad on Tuesday.

Members of the Congress Scheduled Castes wing held a protest in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office and shouted slogans against Mr. Hegde and the BJP.

“For Mr. Hegde, it has become a habit to always speak nonsense and criticise the Constitution. Interestingly, such statements reflect the prevailing mentality among BJP leaders. Mr. Hegde tends to speak openly about what others are tend to speak in mellowed tones,” they said.

“The Constitution is a guiding force not only for India but to the entire world. Even developed countries have spoken highly of the Indian Constitution and they have tried to adopt some key provisions from it. We consider the Constitution sacred and we will not tolerate any talk against it,” they added.

“The BJP has distanced itself from Mr. Hegde’s remarks and said that it is his personal opinion. If it is not the party line, why is the party not taking action against him? That is because the party has the same mentality,” they said.

“It is not just Mr. Hegde, who is appealing to voters for a two-third majority of seats for his party, most of the BJP members are like that. it is not a simple demand. There is an ulterior motive to it. Most of the BJP leaders are against affirmative action initiatives like reservation and they want a brute majority to abolish it. However, they hide this fact from the public for fear of public outcry. They are also against secularism and want to convert India into a Hindu Rashtra where SC/STs, OBCs and minorities are treated as second grade citizens and face discrimination. They want to provoke communal violence across the country and keep winning by dividing society. They plan to snatch our Constitutionally guaranteed rights. This is not acceptable,” they said, in a memorandum to the government.

In a party rally at Siddapur in Uttara Kannada on Saturday, Mr. Hegde had said that the BJP needed over 400 seats to get two-third majority in Parliament and in two-third of States, to change some portions of the Constitution. The Congress has introduced in the Constitution some elements like the word secularism that are against the interests of Hinduism, he said.

KPCC member Robert Daddapuri, Prakash Dodwad, Anand Jadav, Ashok Bhandari, Narayan Madar, Laxman Doddmani and others led the protest.