Amending constitution will end parliamentary democracy, says Chidambaram on Anant Hegde

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said on Monday that if the Constitution is amended, as per the BJP-RSS agenda, it will be the end of parliamentary democracy, federalism, rights of the minorities, and English being one of the two official languages.

Chidambaram's remarks came over Bharatiya Janata Party MP that his party needs a two-thirds majority to amend the Constitution.

"The BJP's intention to amend the Constitution was never a secret. Dozens of BJP leaders in private conversations have said that India must be a Hindu Rashtra, that Hindi must be the sole official language of India and the central government must be strong and prevail over the state governments," Chidambaram said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

 Hegde has on March 10 said the Indian constitution needs to be changed ‘and the only way BJP can do it is if the party can win over 400 Lok Sabha seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP, however, distanced itself from the controversial remark and dubbed Hegde's remark as his and has even sought clarification.

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Sometimes, Chidambaram said, members like Hegde spill the beans, and quickly deny their words. He said this is an "old ploy". The purpose is achieved and the RSS/BJP cadres are enthused that the BJP continues to nurture the idea of amending the Constitution, Chidambaram said.

"If the Constitution is amended according to the RSS/BJP agenda, that will be the end of Parliamentary democracy, Federalism, rights of the Minorities, and the English language being one of the two official languages," he claimed.

Hegde, addressing a gathering at Karwar in Karnataka on March 9, had said the BJP needs a in both houses of Parliament to amend the Constitution and "set right the