BJP-RSS 'disrespect' Constitution, their love for it is mere 'pretence': Mallikarjun Kharge

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday accused the BJP-RSS of damaging institutions and disrespecting the Constitution, claiming their current reverence for it is a mere pretence and sham as they never made any contribution in its making.

He also noted that justice, equality, freedom, mutual brotherhood and secularism, which are the hallmarks of India, are in danger today under the BJP rule.

"Today, Mr. Modi lectures us on the dangers of Colonisation, but these very people belong to the same ideology who, during the freedom struggle and the national movement, never stood with the people of this country for even a minute, but instead they served British subjugation," he said in a post on X.

"The people of the country now know who is damaging our institutions. These BJP-RSS folks are busy disrespecting the Constitution. That is why their current reverence for the Constitution is mere pretense, a sham," he charged.

Kharge alleged that it is they who burnt copies of the Constitution and now they go and offer flowers at Babasaheb's statue, saying, "this is the greatest victory for India's Constitution and our forebears".

He said Ambedkar and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, in collaboration with the Constituent Assembly, not only crafted the Constitution but also built an India where democracy reigns supreme.

"Justice, equality, freedom, mutual brotherhood, secularism, and socialism have become the hallmarks of India. But today, these hallmarks are in danger," he alleged.

He said when the Constitution was enacted, organisations like the RSS openly declared that it was based on "Western values" and that their ideal was the "Manusmriti" and history bears witness that they opposed the Constitution.

"Today, the irony is that those who once held the Manusmriti in higher regard than the Constitution are now, after coming to power, compelled by necessity and political expediency to claim it as their own," he said.

Targeting the BJP-RSS, he said on December 11, 1948, they held a massive rally at Ramlila Maidan and even burnt an effigy of Dr. Ambedkar.

"The RSS did not merely oppose the Constitution and the Tricolor; during British rule, while freedom fighters languished in jails, the RSS stood with the British. And today, the same RSS is praised by Mr. Modi from the ramparts of the Red Fort. Yet, in the aftermath of Gandhi's assassination, on January 30, 1948, the first ban on the RSS was imposed by Sardar Patel himself," he said.

Kharge also cited the RSS mouthpiece "Organiser" which opposed the Constitution in November 1949.

"After its passage, RSS chief Golwalkar wrote: 'But in our Constitution, there is no mention of the unique constitutional development in ancient Bharat. Manu’s Laws were written long before Lycurgus of Sparta or Solon of Persia. To this day his laws as enunciated in the Manusmriti the admiration of the world and elicit spontaneous obedience and conformity. But to our constitutional pundits that means nothing'," he said.