‘Bring back ballot paper,’ Mallikarjun Kharge says on Constitution Day, calls for campaign

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday demanded the return of ballot paper and called for a concerted campaign on the scale of Bharat Jodo Yatra to create awareness about it.

Speaking at the ‘Samvidhan Rakshak Abhiyaan’ function at Talkatora stadium, he said Prime minister Narendra Modi fears a caste census. He said Modi is afraid that if he allows a caste census then all sections of society will demand their share.

Kharge also accused the BJP of not having any “constitutional integrity or federal character” and alleged that the party was undoing everything that BR Ambedkar and other members of the Constituent Assembly did through the Constitution.

Referring to the Maharashtra Assembly polls, which the NDA swept, Kharge alleged that billionaire businessman Gautam Adani had a lot to do with the election as his wealth was at stake.

“We should all unite and move forward together and push them aside. I do not wish to speak about elections, but I would surely say the votes of all the poor and oppressed communities are going to waste. They should all demand voting by ballot paper,” he said.

“Let them keep EVMs with them. We don’t want EVMs, we want voting on ballot paper. Then they will know what their position is and where they stand.

“From our party, we should start this campaign to make everyone aware that they should want ballot paper back. We will speak to other political parties also,” Kharge said, urging Rahul Gandhi to launch a movement.

“We should start a campaign like Bharat Jodo Yatra to bring back the ballot paper,” he stressed.

On the prime minister, he said, “PM Modi fears caste census as everyone will then demand their share and Modi will have to run away to Ahmedabad.” If the prime minister really wants unity in the country, then he and the BJP should stop spreading hatred, he said.

“They are saying ‘batenge to katenge’, but who is dividing the country? It is them who are trying to divide the country by spreading hatred, misguiding people and dividing people in the name of religion.

“They talk of the Constitution, but when the Constitution was adopted, the RSS had said it is based on the western culture and it should be based on ‘Manusmriti’,” the Congress leader said.

Kharge, again referring to RSS, said those who have insulted the Constitution are indulging in “fake love” for it.

He also exhorted the Dalits not to run after the BJP.

“They are not ‘rakshak (protector), but ‘bhakshak’ (destroyers) of the Constitution. They want to destroy the Constitution. We should all unite and move forward together and push them behind,” he said.