Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress on Thursday attacked the BJP-ruled Centre, accusing it of attempting to rewrite the Indian Constitution and marginalise the backward communities in the country.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said that the nation is passing through a time when attempts are being made to rewrite the Constitution that was framed by B R Ambedkar.
“It is unfortunate that the party ruling the country is the one which is trying to destroy the Constitution and rewrite it from scratch. This government is also trying to marginalise the downtrodden and backward communities in the country,” he said.
Venugopal was speaking at an event held at Ayyankali Hall, in the heart of Kerala’s state capital, to felicitate Congress MP Kodikunnil Suresh — who belongs to the Scheduled Caste community — for his inclusion in the Congress Working Committee (CWC) as a special invitee.
The AICC general secretary claimed that Congress is different from the BJP in how they treat those who belong to the backward communities. He said that the grand old party not only tries to uplift them to positions of power and authority, but also gives them the respect that they deserve.
The Congress does not work for the backward communities just for the sake of gaining votes, he claimed.
“This is evident from the fact that the Congress chief (Mallikarjun Kharge) belongs to a backward community,” Venugopal, also an MP, said.
On the other hand, while the BJP elevates persons from the backward communities to positions of power — like former President Ram Nath Kovind and present President Droupadi Murmu — it does not give them the respect that their positions deserve, the Congress MP said. “Both Ram Nath Kovind and Droupadi Murmu were not invited for the inauguration of the new Parliament building,” he pointed out.
Venugopal said that the Left front in Kerala too takes a similar approach.
He alleged that the ruling Left in Kerala taps each community only for their votes and keeps changing its stance based on its vote bank.
“They have dual faces — the original one and the one they show during election campaigns,” the AICC general secretary alleged.
He said that even the Congress unit in Kerala, unfortunately, has a long way to go in uplifting people from backward communities to posts of authority in the party.
Venugopal said that he had pointed this out to the leaders of the Congress unit in Kerala and was sure that they would address the issue.
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