Seizing on the remarks by the party’s South Goa candidate, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hit out at the party and Rahul Gandhi, accusing them of insulting BR Ambedkar’s Constitution and attempting to break the country.

Addressing a public meeting on Monday, Congress’s South Goa candidate Viriato Fernandes had said the Indian Constitution was “forced” on Goa after its liberation from Portuguese rule and that he had said as much to senior party leader Rahul Gandhi ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. 

Referring to the remarks, PM Modi said at a rally in Chhattisgarh’s Mahasamund on Tuesday, “The Congress’s Goa candidate is saying that the Constitution of India does not apply on the state. He has clearly said the Constitution was forced upon Goa and that he had said this to Congress’ ‘shahzada‘ (prince) in the past.”

The ‘shahzada’ jibe, a reference to the Congress’ “dynastic politics”, has been regularly used by the PM to refer to Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi.

“Is this not an insult to Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Constitution? Is this not meddling with the Constitution? This is all part of a well-thought-out conspiracy to break the country. Today, they are negating the Constitution in Goa, tomorrow they will try to negate BR Ambedkar’s Constitution all over India,” Prime Minister Modi added.

The PM’s remarks are significant because the Congress has been accusing the BJP of wanting to change the Constitution if it is elected for a third term. This was also stated by BJP’s six-time MP from the Uttara Kannada constituency, Anant Hegde, who had said the party had set a target of 400 Lok Sabha seats for the NDA so that the Constitution could be amended. After the comment, Mr Hegde was kept out of the list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls. 

Countering the Congress’ charge, PM Modi said, “Leave aside the BJP, even Babasaheb Ambedkar himself cannot abolish the Constitution.” 

‘Someone Else Decided Destiny’

Mr Fernandes, who had met Mr Gandhi as part of an NGO, ‘Goencho Away’, which was pressing for dual citizenship for Goans who have opted for Portuguese passports, had said, “We (during a meeting with Mr Gandhi in a hotel near Panaji) raised 12 demands before Mr Gandhi, and one of them was about (granting) dual citizenship. Mr Gandhi asked me whether the demand was constitutional. We said no.” 

He said the senior Congress leader had told the delegation that the demand would not be considered if it was not constitutional.

“I explained to him that the Indian Constitution came into force on January 26, 1950. When Goa was liberated from the Portuguese rule in 1961, you (referring to the then Central government) forced the Constitution on us. We were not included in it,” Mr Fernandes said.

The Congress candidate said he recalled a speech by Jawaharlal Nehru, Mr Gandhi’s grandfather, in which he said that post-liberation Goa will decide its own destiny. “But our destiny was decided by someone else,” he claimed. 

(With inputs from PTI)

As the BJP eyes a third consecutive term and the INDIA bloc tries its best to stop it from doing so, parties and voters are not only having to contend with rising political temperatures but also a heatwave sweeping many states, which is seen to have impacted the turnout in the first phase of polls.

The voter turnout for the first and biggest phase of the general elections settled at 65.5%, a drop of 4.4 percentage points from the 69.9% seen in the same constituencies in 2019.

As many as 13 states and Union Territories are going to the polls in the second phase of Friday and what has got experts as well as the Election Commission worried is that there is a heatwave warning for parts of at least four such states – West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka – on that day.

Data from Bihar’s Nawada and Gaya Lok Sabha constituencies backs the hypothesis that higher temperatures, especially over 40 degrees Celsius, have an impact on voter turnout. On April 11, 2019, the maximum temperature was 35 degrees C in Nawada and the turnout was 52.5%; this dropped to just 41.5% on April 19, when the maximum temperature was 42 degrees Celsius.

In Gaya, the turnout was 56% on April 11, 2019, when the maximum temperature was 35 degrees C, dropping to 52% last Friday, when the maximum temperature was 42.

The India Meteorological Department has forecast a hot summer, with an increase in the number of heatwave days. With six phases of polling still left, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and the Election Commissioners held a high-level meeting, which was attended by the IMD chief, to take stock of the situation.

A meeting is also planned with Chief Electoral Officers of the states to take stock of necessary facilities like awnings, drinking water and fans at all polling stations.

States Affected

Dr Naresh Kumar, Senior Scientist at the India Meteorological Department, told NDTV, “We have issued a red alert for heat in West Bengal for the next three days. Temperatures in Bihar will exceed 40 degrees Celsius. A heatwave is expected in eastern Uttar Pradesh after 24 hours and in western Uttar Pradesh after two days. The temperature will remain hot and humid in Kerala too.”

The heat will be even more of a challenge in Ghaziabad in western Uttar Pradesh, which has seen a low voter turnout in successive elections.

Asked what was being done to tackle this, Abhinav Gopal, Chief Development Officer, Ghaziabad, said, “Adequate arrangements for drinking water are being made in every polling booth. We have done the mapping. Wherever this problem can occur, tents and other areas with shade are being set up so people can get a reprieve from the heat. Polling booths have also been set up in complexes so voters don’t have to travel too far.”

What Can Voters Do?

Dr Kumar from the IMD said voters can also take steps to keep themselves safe and hydrated. “According to the guidelines issued by the National Disaster Management Authority, people should wear light-coloured, loose-fitting clothes and cover the head with a cap or cloth. They should keep themselves covered and not expose too much of the body to the heat.”

“Always carry plenty of fluids and water, and keep an eye on the daily forecast as well as advisories of the India Meteorological Department,” he added.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar criticized the previous Congress-led UPA government for choosing not to retaliate after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, citing the reasoning that attacking Pakistan would be costlier than not doing so. Speaking at a talk on ‘Foreign Policy the India Way: From Diffidence to Confidence’, Jaishankar emphasized India’s moral duty towards nations that struggled to recover from colonial rule.