Patna:

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday said the constitution is in danger when Congress imposes emergency in the country and makes every effort to change it.

He also said that there are indications that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the BJP will win more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. The first phase of voting covering 102 parliamentary constituencies across 21 states and union territories was held on Friday.

“We were talking about ‘400 pascals’ and now there are indications that the number could be higher… The opposition showed signs of being frustrated by the defeat; they said only one thing: The constitution will change. Who is talking about changing the constitution?”

“The prime minister and all of us have made it clear that this will not happen. The constitution is at risk when Congress rules; the constitution is at risk when Congress imposes a state of emergency,” he said.

Attacking the Congress party further, he said: “Throughout the Emergency, there were efforts to change the Constitution. This is their history. The Congress party made all efforts to change the Constitution and the Left parties stand with them; today, Lalu “Yadav is with them. The danger to the constitution is not from Prime Minister Narendra Modi or the BJP, but from them.”

Bihar will witness voting for 40 Lok Sabha seats in all seven phases.

Voting for four seats – Jamui, Nawada, Gaya and Aurangabad – was held in the first phase on Friday.

The state will go to polls on five seats in the second to fifth phases. In the sixth and seventh phases, elections will be held for eight seats each.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the New Democratic Alliance (NDA) comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party, Janata Dal (JD(U)) and Lok Sabha Janata Party (LJP) emerged victorious by winning 39 seats out of 40 .

The BJP won 17 seats with 24.1% of the vote, while the JD (U) won 16 seats with 22.3% of the vote. The Liberal Party won 6 seats with 8% of the vote.

The Mahagathbandhan, led by RJD Rashtriya Janata Dal), INC (Indian National Congress Party) and RLSP (Radhtriya Lok Samta Party), won only one seat.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)