"We have had the mandate to change the Constitution for the last 10 years, but we never did."
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has dismissed the Opposition's claims that the BJP wants to win more than 400 Lok Sabha seats to amend the Constitution. He said that the BJP had the mandate to make changes in the Constitution for the past decade but never did so.
In an interview with ANI, Mr Shah said that the party's aim to secure more than 400 seats is to bring stability to the country's political landscape.
"We have had the mandate to change the Constitution for the last 10 years, but we never did that. What do you think Rahul Baba and company would say, and the country will believe it? This country has given us a clear mandate, and the people of this country already know that Modi ji already had sufficient majority to change the constitution, but we never did that," Mr Shah said.
"Yes, we want to win 400 seats in the LS polls to bring stability to politics in the country. We want 400 seats to protect our borders, to make India the third-largest economy in the world, and to ensure that a few poor people who are yet to get the benefits, and we have to fulfil it. We want 400 seats because clean water is yet to reach every household, and there is a lot of work to be done in the field of natural farming in this country. We want 400 seats because we want to provide free treatment of up to Rs 5 lakh to every senior citizen aged above 70 years of age," he further said.
Mr Shah's remarks came after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's statement in which he referred to BJP and said that a political party has allegedly promised in its poll campaign that if they win the elections, they will be uprooting the Constitution.
"For the first time, a political party has said that if they come to power, they will be destroying the Constitution. This Constitution gave rights to the poor, backward, Dalits, Adivasis, minorities, farmers, and labourers of India. And today, big leaders of the BJP say that if they win the elections, they will uproot this book," Rahul Gandhi said while addressing a public rally in Odisha's Balangir on Wednesday (May 15). Furthermore, Home Minister Amit Shah underscored the BJP's track record in fulfilling promises, such as the abrogation of Article 370 and the construction of the Ram Temple. "We have abrogated Article 370, removed Triple Talaq, and taken up and taken up the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. We brought the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) with the help of the mandate in the last ten years of our governance," he said.
When asked about the slogan '400 Paar' sounding like it was needed for a big step, Amit Shah said there's not much difference between 400 Paar and 272, and that the BJP simply seeks expansion. "We never needed 400 seats for a big step; we can do it now. Won't anyone try to expand their work; won't the BJP expand itself?" he said.
Hitting out at the Indira Gandhi-led Congress government, Mr Shah said, "See, the history of misuse of majority is not of my party, but the history of misuse of majority during Indira Gandhi's time was done by the Congress. They changed the article, Lok Sabha was extended, an emergency was imposed, and 1.5 lakh people were sent to jail for 19 months without any reason. We never misused it, and no one takes Rahul Baba seriously."
Exuding confidence in winning the Lok Sabha polls with a full majority, Amit Shah said that the people of the country are with PM Modi to form a stable government in the country.
"These people want an unstable government. The public has seen what a stable government can do for the country. The youth of the country have suffered the pain of unstable governments for 30 years. Modi ji's stable government came for two terms and now in the third term, a more stable government will be formed, so the people of the country are with this goal of Modi ji," he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)