Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar fired back at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Monday, questioning whether they respect the Indian Constitution, amid a debate over Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar’s critical remarks on the basic structure doctrine, which drew sharp criticism from Congress leaders.
Last week, commenting on the landmark 1973 Kesavananda Bharati case, Dhankhar said, “In 1973, a very incorrect precedent was started in India. The Supreme Court stated in the case of Kesavananda Bharati that Parliament could amend the Constitution but not its basic structure. With all due respect to the judiciary, I cannot agree with you.”
Addressing a press conference amid the Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra at Hoshiarpur in Punjab on Monday, Kanhaiya Kumar said, “The Constitution is supreme, and it is our party’s duty to respect it. We want to know whether the BJP-RSS respects the Constitution. Our party’s top priority is to save the Constitution and protect our citizens’ rights. “All of our work is guided by the Constitution, and our thinking is oriented to the nation’s Constitution,” he added.
“We make no distinction between the BJP and the RSS. The RSS is the seed, and the BJP is the fruit. Even though they call themselves a cultural organization, their entire ideology is political in nature. I’d like to make it clear that religion belongs to the country. Communism, on the other hand, does not. The RSS employs religious symbols in its communal politics. This is not related to religion in any way,” the former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) president added.
“As members of the Indian National Congress, we are proud that we have struggled against the British to help this country achieve Independence. After stumbling and standing, the nation has finally arrived at this point. Based on the Constitution, a person who used to say that he sold tea has become the Prime Minister of the country,” he said, launching a thinly-veiled jab at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The BJP and the RSS did not respond to Kanhaiya Kumar’s remarks right away.
Senior Congress leaders P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh had previously condemned Dhankhar’s remarks. While Chidambaram warned “Constitution-loving citizens” of “impending dangers,” Ramesh called Dhankhar’s remarks an “extraordinary attack on the judiciary.”
A senior adviser to the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Kanchan Gupta, retorted to Chidambaram in a tweet, saying, “Parliament is empowered to amend the Constitution on behalf of “We, the people of India”. Piety does not fit with a party that has slashed the Constitution. “Recall the Situation.”
