Shashi Tharoor in Aap Ki Adalat: BJP will amend constitution, declare India a 'Hindu Rashtra' if it wins 2019 Lok Sabha polls

Senior Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has said that the BJP would amend the Constitution and declare India a ‘Hindu Rashtra” if it wins Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

He was replying to questions in Rajat Sharma’s ‘Aap Ki Adalat’ show, which will be telecast tonight on India TV.

The MP from Thiruvananthapuram said, “BJP is now in power in 21 states, and in four to five years, it will surely get majority in Rajya Sabha. If the BJP wins the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, then the party will surely amend the Constitution to declare India a ‘Hindu Rashtra’.

“The day they will have majority in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and in majority of the states, with the President, Vice-President and Prime Minister being part of RSS, who can stop the RSS’ dream of declaring India a ‘Hindu Rashtra’?”

Tharoor said, “Those who have challenged the Idea of India over the years are in power today. They still talk of a Hindu Rashtra, and their ideological heroes are Veer Savarkar, M S Golwalkar and Deen Dayal Upadhyay, who had been advocating amending the Constitution. That is why, at the seminar in Thiruvananthapuram, I said, that if the present BJP leaders do not change their views, there is a risk of a Hindutva version of Pakistan taking place in India. That would be a Hindu Pakistan, but I know majority of Hindus do not subscribe to this.”

The Congress leader said, “Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi says that our Constitution is a holy book for him, but at the same time, he is a follower of Deen Dayal Upadhyay, who had openly advocated amending the Constitution. This surely raises doubts in the minds of people. Not a single minister at the Centre has disowned Hindu Rashtra”.

Asked by Rajat Sharma whether Congress President Rahul Gandhi will be able to stop BJP from retaining power in 2019, Tharoor replied: “It is not a question of Rahul Gandhi alone. There are many leaders in the opposition. There are 80 per cent Hindus in this country of 130 crore people, and a good majority of them are in favour of an inclusive Hinduism.”