BJP wants 400 seats in LS to get rid of Constitution, have Manusmriti in its place: CPI-M's Yechury

New Delhi [India], May 18 : CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Saturday attacked the BJP saying that the party wants more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha to get rid of the Constitution and have Manusmriti in its place.
"They ask for 400 seats so that they can get rid of the Constitution and have their Manusmithi as the order for India's society in the future under a fascistic dictatorship. That is what they want to do. But the people are rejecting it," Yechury told ANI.
He also accused Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of being ignorant of the Constitution, saying that the Constitution does not talk about any reservations for OBCs as the Chief Minister said in a public rally in Bihar and that under the Constitution reservations are for backwardness.
Earlier in the day, while opposing the idea of providing reservations to Muslims Sarma said, "In the Constitution, it is mentioned that SC, ST, and OBC should get reservations."
Reacting to this, Yechury said, "First of all he should be a little knowledgeable about Indian History. The Constitution does not talk about any reservation for OBCs. OBC thing came only after the Mandal Commission, it is not something Babasaheb Ambedkar gave. They keep dropping his name and creating their history. They don't even know the constitution on which they took an oath to become chief Ministers. This is the pathetic state of affairs of this party called the BJP."
"As far as the reservation issue is concerned, the Constitution is very clear it is the reservation for backwardness. It is not a reservation based on religion. So Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes reservations are reservations for their backwardness. They are not given reservations for their being part of the Hindu religion," he added.
He said that backwardness can be there with anybody of any religion.
"You could be a Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Sikh or an atheist and still be backward. So backwardness is the criteria, not the religion," he said.
Addressing a public rally in Raghunathpur, Siwan, on Saturday, the Assam CM said that no reservations will be made on the basis of religion.
"Few days back I saw the statement of Lalu Yadav, where he said that 'Muslims should get reservations'. Do Hindus don't deserve to get reservations? Babasaheb Ambedkar gave us the Constitution. In the Constitution, it is mentioned that SC, ST, and OBC should get reservations. There will be no reservations on the basis of religion. I want to say this, Lalu Yadav, if you want to give reservations to Muslims, then I will buy you the tickets to Pakistan, go to Pakistan and then give reservations there. It will never happen in India. There is no law on this. Yeh Sapna bhi aap mat dekho (don't dream of this)," Assam CM said.
Citing examples from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the Assam CM alleged that such measures came at the expense of other backward classes.
"Karnataka's decision to grant reservations to Muslims was done after robbing the reservations of Backward classes," he said.
The Assam CM asserted that to bring the entire Jammu and Kashmir to India, the Bharatiya Janata Party needs 400 seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
"One part of Kashmir is in Pakistan. Give 400 seats to Modi ji and we will get Kashmir from Pakistan. We closed 700 madrassas in Assam and no one raised their voice against it. Why? Because this is a new India...Aaj mullah banane ka dukaan khulne nahi dunga. Doctor , engineer, banane ka kaam karunga...We need 400 seats so that we can bring the Uniform Civil Code, construct the Krishna Janambhoomi temple, construct the Gyanvapi temple and stop reservation to Muslims. That's why we need 400 seats," he said.