Constitution is country's DNA, but it is a blank book for BJP and RSS: Rahul

AMRAVATI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said his party considers the Constitution to be the country's DNA, but for the ruling BJP and the RSS it is a "blank book".

Speaking at a campaign rally in eastern Maharashtra's Amravati ahead of the November 20 assembly elections, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said nowhere in the Constitution it is written that state governments can be toppled by "purchasing MLAs" as it happened in Maharashtra, and "Rs 16 lakh crore debt" of top businessmen can be waived.

"Congress considers the Constitution as the country's DNA, while for the ruling BJP and the RSS it is a blank book," he alleged.

His retort came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that the Congress leader was showing a copy of the Constitution with blank pages inside at his campaign rallies.

"My sister told me that these days prime minister Narendra Modi was speaking about the same issue that I have been raising. I told him in the Lok Sabha that a caste census should be conducted and the 50 per cent cap on reservations should be removed. Now he is saying in his election rallies that I am against reservation. He is suffering from memory loss like a former US president,'' Gandhi further said.

The PM will next say Rahul Gandhi is against caste census, he said.

"Our opposition spent crores of rupees to tarnish my image because I stood for the rights of Dalits, Adivasis and Backward Classes," the Congress leader claimed.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demonetisation were weapons to kill farmers and small businesses, he said, adding that unemployment is rising and that was why hatred is spreading in society.

''I want to tell Modi ji that industrialists haven't chosen you to be the PM, it is done by the people of India. It is true that industrialists have marketed him,'' he said.

Gandhi alleged that the Maharashtra government was "stolen" through the use of money as it was a "deal" for the Dharavi redevelopment project, awarded to an Adani group entity.

Speaking at another rally at Chimur in Chandrapur district later, he accused PM Modi of promoting the lie that Rahul Gandhi was against the Constitution and reservations.

Gandhi also said he keeps displaying the Constitution at his election rallies to remind people of the struggle and sacrifices of the national icons who built the country.

''I spoke in the Lok Sabha in front of the prime minister that we should remove the 50 per cent cap on reservations and conduct a caste census. Still the PM lies, saying I am against reservations and the Constitution," the Congress leader said.

"The BJP insults our national icons and the people of the country when it says I show a red book of the Constitution," he said, responding to the saffron party's claim that the red cover suggested association with "urban Naxals."

As long as the Modi government is at the helm, there can be no job creation, Gandhi said.

Dalits, Adivasis and Backward Classes together account for 90 per cent of population, but their share in decision-making is equivalent to only "Rs 6.10 paise out of a budget of Rs 100," he claimed.

The Constitution speaks of equitable distribution of resources, the Congress leader said, adding, ''We are following the tenets of the Constitution in letter and spirit."

Unemployment and inflation are spiralling out of control and the poor cannot afford to get their children married while crores of rupees are spent at the marriages in industrialist families, Gandhi alleged.

On the Dharavi redevelopment project in Mumbai, he said lands of rich people are never acquired.

"Had only ten rich people been living in Dharavi, the land would have never been acquired. Have you heard of rich people's land being taken? Why should only the land of the poor people and farmers be acquired? Is it written in the Constitution?" Gandhi asked.