Constitutional institutions not personal property of PM Modi, says Rahul Gandhi

In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the Constitutional institutions of the country are not the PM's personal property but belong to every single Indian citizen.

Accusing the ruling BJP at the Centre of attempting to capture all the Constitutional institutions of the country, he said the upcoming Lok Sabha polls are a fight between those who want to protect the Constitution and those who want to destroy it.

Gandhi was addressing party workers and voters after taking out a roadshow in Vellimunda in his home constituency of Wayanad, Kerala.

He said the Constitution is the document that protects the rights of all Indians regardless of the language they speak, the community they are from, the religion they practice and the state they belong to. Everybody is the same in the eyes of the Constitution, he said.

"You understand very well that the BJP is attempting to capture all the (Constitutional) institutions of our country, one by one," he alleged.

Whether it is the judiciary, Election Commission, CBI, ED, income tax department or the senior bureaucracy, the RSS is infiltrating these systems using their personnel, he also alleged.

And on the other hand, there is the INDIA bloc, which believes that these institutions belong to India and not to any one organisation, he said.

"These institutions are not the personal property of the Prime Minister. They are the property of every single Indian citizen," Gandhi asserted.

He said every now and then, some BJP MP says they will change the Constitution. "Let me make it very clear, the Congress party will not let the RSS change the Constitution of India," he said.

Gandhi further said it is the duty of the Congress party to protect every single Indian regardless of their community, religion and state. This is the sacred duty of the Congress party, he added.

The Congress leader was in Wayanad today to launch the second phase of his election campaign. He had kicked off his poll campaign in Wayanad earlier this month by filing his nomination papers and holding a massive road show. Gandhi won from Wayanad by a record margin of 4,31,770 votes during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Polling in Kerala's 20 Lok Sabha seats will be held on 26 April.