A ‘red book’ triggered a fierce debate Thursday as the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party – and their allies, the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party factions – sparred in the build-up to the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly election.

The Congress’ Jairam Ramesh this afternoon hit out at a “desperate” Devendra Fadnavis, the Deputy Chief Minister, and one of the BJP’s top state figures, over his claims that Rahul Gandhi was seeking votes from ‘urban Naxals and anarchists’ by carrying a ‘red book’ to an election event in Nagpur.

In politics, the colour red is often associated with Marxist or communist ideologies.

In a post on X this afternoon, Mr Ramesh said, “This book, which Mr Fadnavis is taking objection to, is the Constitution of India, of which Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar was the main architect.”

“This is the very same Constitution of India which the RSS (the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the BJP’s ideological mentor) had attacked in 1949… for not having been inspired by the Manusmriti.”

Accompanying that post were images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah receiving copies of the Constitution of India, bound in red with a broad black hinge.

Mr Ramesh’s lengthy post also pointed out use of the term ‘urban naxal’ is contrary to statements made by the Union Home Ministry – i.e., “the Government of India does not use the term”.

Devendra Fadnavis is getting desperate. He accuses Rahul Gandhi of showing a ” red book” to seek support from so-called “urban naxals”.

This book which Mr. Fadnavis is taking objection to is the Constitution of India, of which Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was the main architect. This… pic.twitter.com/CUN14YKNbL

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) November 7, 2024

To back his statement, Mr Ramesh shared the ministry’s answer to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha in March 2020, which quoted then junior Union Home Minister as saying the phrase is not used by the Ministry. “Mr Fadnavis should think first and then speak,” Mr Ramesh declared.

Earlier this week Mr Fadnavis had told reporters, “My allegations about Rahul Gandhi… proved to be true about his inclination towards urban naxals. He showed the ‘red book’ and tried to seek help (politically) from urban naxals… What message could Rahul Gandhi have wanted to give…?”

And it wasn’t just the Deputy Chief Minister hitting out; Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and the BJP’s Maharashtra spokesperson, Keshava Upadhye spewed fire at the Congress.

BJP vs Congress Over ‘Blank’ Red Notebooks

Mr Rijiju slammed his rivals for “fake drama”, claiming the book Rahul Gandhi waved at the Samvidhan Samman Sammelan in Nagpur, and later distributed to people, was actually a blank notebook with a binding designed to make it look like the copy of the Constitution in question.

The BJP’s Maharashtra unit jumped in and shared a video of what it said were notebooks – bound in red – distributed at Rahul Gandhi’s event. In the video the book was opened to show blank pages.

The Congress’ Vijay Wadettiwar later said a notebook and pen had been given to all attendees.

The squabble over the Constitution echoes one of the Congress’ big weapons for the April-June election – voters must unite behind the party-led INDIA bloc to stop the BJP from amending and/or changing the Constitution and vote for the opposition grouping to “save democracy”.

The BJP’s attacks over the ‘red book’ issue this week contain a sharp jab on that topic, with the party’s Maharashtra leader, Mr Upadhye, declaring, “Support to Congress means killing Constitution.”

The incident that prompted this round of spats – Mr Gandhi’s speech at the Nagpur convention – was the Congress leader waving a copy of the Constitution and saying, “… the thoughts behind it are 1,000 years old…” and blaming the BJP and RSS for eroding values of the Constitution.

2024 Maharashtra Assembly Election

All of this comes as the two heavyweights, and their state allies, prep for a high-profile electoral battle in two weeks’ time. This will come just days after the BJP bested the Congress in the Haryana – a result the latter declared it could not accept amid allegations against the Election Commission.

The elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand (also this month) are the final two Assembly polls for 2024, before the BJP and the Congress join the AAP in fighting the Delhi election in February.

Chinese Constiutiion?

In May, before the Lok Sabha election, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Sarma shared a photo of Mr Gandhi waving a red-covered book and declared, “Original copy of the Constitution of India has a blue cover… Chinese constitution has red cover. Is Rahul carrying a Chinese Constitution?”

FACT CHECK | Did Rahul Gandhi Hold Up Chinese Constitution At His Rallies?

The claim was fact-checked it emerged Mr Gandhi, in fact, did have a copy of the Indian Constitution.

With input from agencies

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Days after the attack on a Hindu temple in Canada’s Brampton, the Minister of External Affairs announced the cancellation of consular camps in Toronto over security issues.

Consular camps are routine operations organized by the Indian diplomatic missions in Canada, including the High Commission in Ottawa and the Consulates in Vancouver and Toronto, to assist Indian nationals with various services, such as life certificates.

MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal today said, “You would have seen the message posted by our consulate in Toronto that they had to cancel the consular camp they were planning to organize over the weekend because they did not receive adequate security or security assurance from the host government.” 

“That was the reason these consular camps had to be cancelled. As you know, we have a large diaspora in Canada. Many of these people, especially around November and December, need several documents for the continuation of their pensions and other activities here in India. So, this consular camp we do is helpful to the community, to both people of Indian nationality and people of Indian origin who may now be nationals of other countries,” Mr Jaiswal said.

The Consulate General of India in Toronto earlier said, “In view of the security agencies conveying their inability to provide minimum security protection to the community camp organizers, the Consulate has decided to cancel some of the scheduled consular camps.”

In view of the security agencies conveying their inability to provide minimum security protection to the community camp organizers, Consulate has decided to cancel some of the scheduled consular camps.@HCI_Ottawa @MEAIndia

— IndiainToronto (@IndiainToronto) November 7, 2024

Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned the “deliberate attack on a Hindu temple in Canada” – referring to a shocking incident last week when men breached the gates of a temple in Brampton, Ontario, while the Indian High Commission held a consular camp.

Read more: “Cowardly Attempts To Intimidate Diplomats”: PM’s 1st Comments On Canada Row

The PM also criticised “cowardly attempts” to intimidate Indian diplomats in that country.

Shortly after the attack on the temple, the Indian High Commission in Ottawa said a consular camp was disrupted. 

PRESS RELEASE

“Violent disruption outside consular camp in Brampton, Ontario (Nov 3)”@MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy @diaspora_india @cgivancouver @IndiainToronto pic.twitter.com/V7QNMmA4eR

— India in Canada (@HCI_Ottawa) November 4, 2024

“We have seen violent disruption today (Nov 3) orchestrated by anti-India elements outside the consular camp. Co-organized with the Hindu Sabha Mandir, Brampton, near Toronto. It is deeply disappointing to see such disruptions being allowed for routine consular work being organized by our Consulates with the fullest cooperation of local co-organizers. We also remain very concerned for the safety of applicants, including Indian nationals, on whose demand such events are organized in the first place,” it added.

“Despite these efforts by anti-India elements, our Consulate was able to issue more than 1000 life certificates to the Indian and Canadian applicants. There were also attempts to disrupt similar camps held in Vancouver and Surrey on Nov 2-3,” the High Commission said.

“In case any camp is infeasible to be held due to such disruptions, alternative arrangements will be made to render those services, which may unfortunately inconvenience local users of these services,” the High Commission said.