NCP Leaders to Display Constitutions During Maharashtra Poll Campaigns

Mumbai - Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Working President Supriya Sule announced on Friday that NCP leaders will prominently display copies of the Indian Constitution during their campaigns for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections on November 20. This declaration comes in response to criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regarding Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's practice of carrying and showing a copy of the Constitution during his rallies.

Sule criticized the BJP for what she called "serial assaults on the Constitution" and defended Gandhi's actions, stating, "If showing a copy of the Constitution is a crime, then it is acceptable to us. Let Fadnavis arrest us all." She emphasized the NCP's commitment to protecting the Constitution, adding, "We will not desert the Constitution, we are immensely proud of it and shall protect it till our last breaths. Henceforth, all our leaders will now sport a copy of the Constitution till the elections are over.”

The BJP's criticism stems from comments made by Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, who questioned Gandhi's motives for carrying the Constitution and highlighted the red cover of his copy, contrasting it with the traditional blue. Fadnavis alleged that Gandhi, surrounded by "Urban Naxals" and "anti-national forces," had become more of an "ultra-Left ideologue" than a Congressman.

On Thursday, Gandhi responded to the allegations, saying that "showing Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution and raising voice for Caste Census is a Naxalite idea" for the BJP. Ambedkar, and vowed that “the people of Maharashtra will not tolerate any insult by the BJP – together with the Congress and Maha Vikas Aghadi, they will defend our Constitution by responding with full force to every attack on it”. He accused the BJP of "insulting" Ambedkar and vowed that the people of Maharashtra would not tolerate such attacks on the Constitution. Rahul Gandhi vowed that the people of Maharashtra, along with the Congress and Maha Vikas Aghadi, will defend the Constitution by responding with full force to every attack on it.

Sule's statement was echoed by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, who affirmed her party's commitment to protecting the Constitution and highlighted Uddhav Thackeray's recent display of a Constitution copy. Chaturvedi also announced that she would be attending a 'Samvidhan Sanman Sammelan' by the Congress this Sunday, November 10. A senior Congress leader in Mumbai believes that the BJP's attempts to discredit Gandhi's actions have backfired, stating that the public will not support any attacks on the Constitution.