A ‘red book’ had sparked a heated debate on Thursday Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party – and their allies, the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party factions – clashed in the build-up to the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections.
Congress’s Jairam Ramesh hit out at “desperate” this afternoon. Devendra FadnavisDeputy Chief Minister and one of the BJP’s top state personalities, he claimed Rahul Gandhi In Nagpur’s election program, he was carrying a ‘red book’ and asking for votes from ‘urban Naxals and anarchists’.
In politics, the color red is often associated with Marxist or communist ideologies.
In a post on X this afternoon, Mr. Ramesh said, “This book, which Mr. Fadnavis is objecting to, is the Constitution of India, whose chief architect was Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.”
“This is the very constitution of India which was attacked by the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, BJP’s ideological guru) in 1949 as not inspired by Manusmriti.”
The post was accompanied by photographs of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah holding copies of the Constitution of India, bound in red with a wide black stripe.
Mr. Ramesh’s lengthy post also pointed out that the use of the term ‘urban Naxal’ is contrary to the statement made by the Union Home Ministry – namely, “The Government of India does not use this term”.
Devendra Fadnavis is getting frustrated. He accused Rahul Gandhi of showing the “red book” to seek support from so-called “urban Naxals”.
This book Mr. Fadnavis is objecting to is the Constitution of India, whose main author is Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was. this… pic.twitter.com/CUN14YKNbL
— Jairam Ramesh (@jairam_ramesh) November 7, 2024
To support his statement, Mr. Ramesh shared the ministry’s reply to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha in March 2020, quoting the then junior Union Home Minister as saying that the ministry does not use the phrase. “Mr. Fadnavis should think first and then speak,” declared Mr. Ramesh.
Earlier this week, Mr. Fadnavis told reporters, “My allegations about Rahul Gandhi… about his leanings towards urban Naxalites have been proved true. He showed ‘Red Book’ and tried to seek help (politically) from urban Naxalites… What Rahul Gandhi Did you want to send a message…?”
And it’s not just the Deputy Chief Minister; Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and BJP Maharashtra spokesperson Keshav Upadhyay have criticized the Congress.
BJP vs Congress in ‘blank’ red notebook
Mr Rijiju criticized his rivals for “fake drama”, claiming that the book waved by Rahul Gandhi at the Sambdhan Samman conference in Nagpur, and later distributed to people, was actually a blank notebook with a binding designed to look like a copy of the Constitution. In question.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadvis (file).
BJP’s Maharashtra unit jumped in and shared a video of Rahul Gandhi distributing notebooks at the event – bound in red. In the video, the book was opened to reveal a blank page.
Congress’s Vijay Wadettiwar later said notebooks and pens were given to all the participants.
The tussle over the constitution echoes the Congress’s big weapon for the April-June elections – to prevent the BJP from amending and/or changing the constitution, voters must rally behind the party-led Bharat Bloc and vote out the opposition group “Save Democracy.”
The BJP’s attack on the ‘Red Book’ issue this week included a sharp blow to the issue, with the party’s Maharashtra leader Mr Upadhyay declaring, “To support the Congress is to kill the Constitution.”
The incident that triggered this round of wrangling – Mr. Gandhi’s speech at the Nagpur Conference – saw the Congress leader brandishing a copy of the Constitution saying “…the ideas behind it are 1,000 years old…” and blaming the BJP. And the RSS for destroying the values of the Constitution.
2024 Maharashtra Assembly Elections
All this comes as the two heavyweights, and their state allies, gear up for a high-profile election battle in two weeks’ time. It comes days after the BJP defeated the Congress in Haryana – a result it declared unacceptable amid allegations against the Election Commission.
Elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand (this month) are the last two assembly elections for 2024, before the BJP and Congress join AAP to contest the Delhi polls in February.
Chinese constitution?
In May, before the Lok Sabha elections, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Sarma shared a photo of Mr. Gandhi waving a red-covered book and declared, “The original copy of the Indian Constitution has a blue cover… The Chinese Constitution has a red cover. Is Rahul carrying the Chinese Constitution?”
Fact check Did Rahul Gandhi support the Chinese constitution in his rally?
Fact-checking the claim revealed that Mr. Gandhi had a copy of the Indian Constitution.
with input from agencies
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