Rahul Gandhi to launch 'Save The Constitution' campaign over rising atrocities against Dalits

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will launch 'Save The Constitution' campaign over rising atrocities against Dalits across the country on Monday.

New Delhi: Congress party on Sunday made yet another blistering attack on the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, saying that it posed a big threat to the Constitution. Accusing the Narendra Modi dispensation at the Centre of "systematically destroying" the Constitution, Congress said that its president Rahul Gandhi will launch a nationwide "Save The Constitution" campaign on April 23. 

Congress also took to Twitter to make the announcement on Rahul Gandhi's 'Save The Constitution' campaign.

Atrocities against Dalits are rising and attempts are being made to undermine social protections like reservations. BJP's actions and inactions suggest that it is planning a major assault on the Constitution of India. It is time to #SaveTheConstitution pic.twitter.com/YSc9scrYwI — Congress (@INCIndia) April 20, 2018

'Save The Constitution' campaign focusses on rising atrocities against the Dalits across the country. 

The party also attacked the BJP-led NDA regime of diluting the SC/ST Act despite rising atrocities against the members of the SC/ST communities in India. 

''The past three years have witnessed an unprecedented rise in atrocities against Dalits. Despite this, the SC/ST Act has been diluted. The Modi Govt is a clear and present danger to the Constitution of India. It is time for us to unite and  #SaveTheConstitution,'' it tweeted.  

In a separate press conference,  AICC Scheduled Caste Department Chairman Nitin Raut said that Rahul Gandhi will launch the campaign on April 23 at the Talkatora Stadium in Delhi and senior party leaders will join him.

Raut further stated that Congress party's scheduled caste leaders from block to national levels will also participate in the programme and the campaign would go on for nearly a year till April 14, 2019.

"The campaign would be taken up at the state-level by the party's respective SC departments to reach out to the common man at the village level," he added.

Importantly, the 'Save The Constitution' campaign from Congress comes at a time when the ruling BJP is holding "Gram Swaraj Abhiyan" across the country under which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked party MPs and MLAs to spend a night in Dalit-dominated villages.

The Prime Minister's direction to party leaders came after violent protests erupted in parts of the country after a Supreme Court order allegedly diluted the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

During the press briefing, Raut said that the BJP and RSS leadership was systematically destroying the Constitution to wreck the country's social fabric to enforce their pernicious 'Manuwadi' social order that was contrary to what the Constitution had nurtured and protected.

"Ever since the RSS-supported BJP has come to power at the Centre, the Constitution has been under severe attack, in one form or the other, thereby denying the marginalised sections of society their constitutional rights," he said.

Raut said that the institutions such as the RBI, Supreme Court, Election Commission and erstwhile Planning Commission were all under threat. 

"The RBI was sidelined while deciding on demonetisation. The Planning Commission was dismantled to establish NITI Aayog that has no accountability. The voice of four Supreme Court senior most Judges has been silenced and the Election Commission made to wait for government's approval to announce election schedules," he said.

The Congress leader concluded by saying that the BJP-RSS combine is set to dismantle the social security available for SCs, STs and other weaker sections. 

(With IANS inputs)