The BJP has dispelled any speculation about amending the constitution and distanced itself from its MP Ananth Kumar Hegde’s remarks about amending the founding document if the party returns to power with a two-thirds majority. .

The BJP posted on Constitution and will ask Hegde to explain his remarks,” just hours after his MP made the comments.

Congressman Shri Ananth Kumar Hegde’s remarks on the Constitution represent his personal views only and do not reflect the party’s position. @BJP4India Reaffirmed our unwavering commitment to upholding the country’s constitution and will seek an explanation from Shri Hegde for his comments.

—BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) March 10, 2024

Mr Hedge said earlier today that the BJP needed a two-thirds majority in both houses of Parliament to amend the constitution and “correct the distortions and unnecessary additions made by Congress to the constitution”.

“If the Constitution has to be changed — the Congress party has fundamentally distorted it, stuffed it with unnecessary content and especially introduced laws aimed at suppressing the Hindu community — if all of this has to be changed, it’s not possible With this (current) majority.

“If we think that the Congress is not in the Lok Sabha and Prime Minister Modi has a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha and remains silent, that is not possible,” he was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency. of.”

Hegde, a six-time Lok Sabha member from Karnataka, further said that the party needs to win more than 20 states for this.

The MP also cited the case of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which he said had been passed “with much effort” in the Lok Sabha and later in the Union House. But he pointed out that several state governments had not approved it and therefore it could not be implemented.

However, this is not the first time Hegde has made such remarks.

In 2017, Mr Hegde, then the federal minister of state for skills development, sparked controversy over his remarks about amending the constitution.

He later apologized in the Lok Sabha but insisted his remarks had been misrepresented.

(with PTI input)