Panvel: Union minister of state Ramdas Athawale on Monday slammed Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for claiming that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would change the Constitution if it remained in power and appealed to the Muslim community not to live in fear, assuring he would stand. by them if any attempt were made to drive them away.
Addressing a rally in Kamothe, Navi Mumbai, in support of the three-time BJP MLA from Panvel, Prashant Thakur, Athawale said that no one can change the Constitution drafted by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. “No one’s bapacha baap (father’s father) can change the Constitution. If my bapacha bapacha baap (father’s father’s father) comes, he can’t change it. Even if Rahul Gandhi’s bapacha bapacha baap (father’s father’s father) comes, he cannot change the Constitution. Rahul Gandhi keeps lying in his campaigns, and that is why he keeps losing elections.”
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The Republican Party of India (Athawale) president also expressed his support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections. “How can Narendra Modi, who takes oath by bowing before the Constitution, change it? His speeches are full of respect for Babasaheb. An OBC has become PM, but all are ganging up against him. I will stand strongly with him. My community knows who to elect and who to defeat, as they will do here by electing Prashant.”
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Athawale also credited Modi and the BJP for helping his party win elections in the past. “In 2009, [Nationalist Congress Party founder] Sharad Pawar asked me to contest from Shirdi, but I lost. After joining the Modi cabinet, I have MLAs in Nagaland and my party has been recognized as a national party,” he said.
He added that Prashant Thakur is carrying forward the legacy of his father, former MP Ramsheth Thakur, and working for all communities and sections of society. “This election is not for Mahayuti to come to power, but for Mahayuti to get power for Maharashtra’s development,” he said.
Athawale also said that if Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray had not allied with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, he wouldn’t have faced rebellion. “I had asked Sharad Pawar to ally with BJP. He could have become prime minister. [Former Congress president] Soniya [Gandhi] and the Congress didn’t let him, but he has still allied with them.”
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At a time when the BJP has raised its Hindutva pitch by coining slogans like “Ek hain toh safe hain” (We are safe if we are one) and accused the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition of appealing Muslims, Athawale appealed to the minority community to vote for the Mahayuti, saying the alliance wasn’t against them.
Listing the various welfare schemes that the Mahayuti government has announced in the build-up to the polls, he said, “You, too, are benefiting from it all, from 10% reservations for economically weaker sections and the 27% OBC quota. Modi’s family comprises all 140 crore people [in India]No one will drive you away. If anyone tries, I will throw them out. There is no need to fear. You are citizens of this country.”
