Constitutional values and democratic institutions are facing a threat in the country, and a "rubber stamp" President would never try to save the Constitution, Opposition's presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha said on Friday.
Mr Sinha was in Gujarat's Gandhinagar to seek support of Congress MLAs in Gujarat ahead of the July 18 election.
The contest between him and BJP-led National Democratic Alliance's Draupadi Murmu was not just about who becomes the next President, he said.
"The battle has now turned into a much bigger battle. This is about whether that person will use his or her rights to save the Constitution after becoming President. And it is obvious that a rubber-stamp president will never try to do that," the former Union minister said.
"Today, constitutional values and democratic institutions, including the press, are in danger. There is an undeclared emergency at present in the country. L K Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee once fought against emergency (between 1975 and 1977) and also went to jail for that. Today their own party (BJP) has imposed an emergency in the country. This is ironic," said Mr Sinha, himself a former BJP leader.
He also criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "not speaking out" about the recent incidents where two persons were killed for supporting suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma.
"Two murders happened. Everyone, including me, condemned it. But neither the Prime Minister nor the Home Minister (Amit Shah) uttered a word. They are silent because they want to keep such issues alive to get votes," Mr Sinha alleged.
A tribal (Draupadi Murmu) getting the top post in the country will not change the lives of tribal communities in India, he said.
"It does not matter who comes from which caste or religion. The only thing that matters is who represents which ideology and this battle is between two different ideologies. Though she was the Governor of Jharkhand for six years, it did not change the lives of the tribals there," Mr Sinha said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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