Congress amended Constitution but accuses BJP of plans to change it: Gadkari

Wardha (Maharashtra): Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said Congress made amendments to the Constitution when in power, but makes an "emotional pitch" now that the BJP will make changes to it.

Speaking at multiple campaign rallies in Wardha district of Vidarbha ahead of the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections, Gadkari also said the BJP was a party of workers, while the Congress indulges in dynastic politics.

"They make an emotional pitch that if the BJP gets 400 seats (in the Lok Sabha), the Constitution will be changed. They lie," he said at Deoli.

As per the Supreme Court judgement in the Kesavananda Bharti case, the salient features of the Constitution cannot be changed, said the Union road transport and highways minister.

The Congress government led by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi amended the Constitution, he said. "They changed the Constitution, and they blame us. The Janata Party rectified it. How many times was the Constitution amended during Indira Gandhi's tenure? But the Congress does not want to respond to this," the BJP leader said.

Speaking at a rally in Arvi assembly constituency in the district, Gadkari said had the Congress given priority to rural India, farmers would not have died by suicide and there would have been less poverty in villages.

The BJP is neither a party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor Nitin Gadkari but it is a party of workers who dedicated their lives to it, Gadkari said, hailing the contribution of party workers in his political journey.

"The BJP is a party of its workers. Here, a PM is not born to another PM, MP is not born to an MP, MLA is not born to an MLA," he said.

The Nagpur MP recalled his days as a party worker when he visited the Wardha district on scooter, riding `triple-seat'.

"In 75 years of India's history, the Congress never gave priority to the development of the country's rural areas. There were no roads in villages, no drinking water. Congress never seriously thought of the development of rural India. Had the rural India got priority, farmers would not have committed suicide, there would not have been poverty in the villages," the Union minister said.

The former BJP chief said the Congress gave a call to eradicate poverty, but it did not happen in reality.

He was not opposed to reservations, but will never use religion and caste for politics, he asserted.

Those who are socially, economically and educationally backward should get reservation to become economically and educationally capable, Gadkari added.

Speaking at a rally in Wardha assembly constituency, Gadkari claimed that in the last ten years his ministry pumped about Rs 20,000 crore in various projects in Wardha district alone.

He also rued that there was deterioration in the level of politics.

Vidarbha or eastern Maharashtra elects 62 of Maharashtra's 288 MLAs.