Anantkumar Hegde apologises, says Constitution is supreme, can't go against it

Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde on Monday had urged people to "claim with pride that they are Muslim, Christian, Lingayat, Brahmin, or a Hindu".

NEW DELHI: Facing flak for his remarks on the Consitution, Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde on Thursday apologised, saying “If someone was hurt by my comments, I tender an apology.”

The BJP MP apologised and said the Constitution is supreme to him.

Making a statement in Lok Sabha, Hegde said, “Regarding the deadlock in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha due to my statement, I want to assure my friends that the Constitution and Parliament are supreme to me.”

Hegde said, “I deeply respect the Constitution, the Parliament and Baba Saheb Ambedkar. The Constitution is supreme for me, there can be no question on it, as a citizen I can never go against it.”

Earlier in the day, Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Ghulam Nabi Azad staged a protest in front of Gandhi statue inside Parliament premises over Hegde's comments.

Hegde apologised after Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan urged him to apologise if he had offended anyone with his comments.

The Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship at a function in Kukanur in Karnataka on Monday urged people to "claim with pride that they are Muslim, Christian, Lingayat, Brahmin, or a Hindu" and said: "Those who, without knowing about their parental blood, call themselves secular, they don't have their own identity...They don't know about their parentage, but they are intellectuals.

"Some people say the Constitution says secular and you must accept it. We will respect the Constitution, but the Constitution has changed several times and it will change in the future too.

"We are here to change the Constitution and we'll change it soon."

The Narendra Modi government on Wednesday disapproved of Union Minister and BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde's controversial remarks that the ruling BJP was "here to change the Constitution" and remove the word "secular" from it.

Amid uproar over Hegde's remark, Union Minister Vijay Goel told the Rajya Sabha that the government does not subscribe to views expressed by his party colleague.

Goel's statement came after the Opposition on Wednesday disrupted the Parliament proceedings saying Hegde has "no right" to be in the House or in the government.