Modi stands for murder of democracy, says Jairam Ramesh

The Asian Age.

India, All India

Mr Ramesh said the BJP does not believe in the Constitution and it is weakening parliamentary institutions.

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh (Photo: PTI)

Bengaluru: “Mr Narendra Modi loves acronyms. His name itself is an acronym that stands for ‘Murder of Democracy in India’. Modi as PM is consistently shrinking space for parliamentary debate, while also hijacking Ambedkar. This is hypocrisy,” said Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, addressing the media during the Dr. Ambedkar International Conference, here on Sunday.

Mr Ramesh said the BJP does not believe in the Constitution and it is weakening parliamentary institutions. He claimed that the BJP and RSS were hijacking human rights advocate Ambedkar, just the way, they did with Mahatma Gandhi.

“Dr Ambedkar would not approve of Modi in the last two years for bringing in all bills through the money bill. He even included Aadhaar in the money bill,” Mr Ramesh said.

On the Dalit and other minority groups as a vote bank, he admitted that there was a competition between political parties, be it Congress, BSP or BJP for Dalits, Tribals and other minorities. 

“The Congress has believed in social empowerment of weaker sections. We are launching leadership programmes for younger Dalits. 20% of the popular vote was for congress in 2014 elections. It is a challenging situation now and we recognise its seriousness. We need aggressive outreach for women, Dalits and other minorities,” Mr Ramesh said.

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