BJP will never feel the need to change the Constitution’s basic structure: Rajnath Singh

The Bharatiya Janata Party will never feel the need to change the basic structure of the Constitution, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told The Hindu on Thursday.

“If, on certain matters, there is a feeling in the country that certain issues need to be addressed, then that can be done,” Singh said. “Amendments to the Constitution have been done under Congress governments in the past, while BJP governments have been more circumspect, and done amendments only to strengthen the integrity of institutions.”

In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, at least three BJP leaders have hinted at major changes to the Constitution.

On March 9, BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde called on voters to ensure a two-thirds majority to his party in the Lok Sabha to enable amendments to the Constitution and undo the “unnecessary laws introduced to subjugate the Hindu community”. BJP leader Jyoti Mirdha on March 30 also said that the party needed an overwhelming majority in Parliament to change the Constitution.

On April 15, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Lallu Singh purportedly said: “The government can be formed with 272 MPs in the Lok Sabha, but to make amendments to the Constitution, or to have a new Constitution, we need more than two-thirds majority.”

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