Rahul Gandhi doesn't believe in strength of Constitution, says Fadnavis

Mumbai, Oct 3 (PTI) Slamming Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on democracy during an interaction in Colombia, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said the Congress leader's grandmother Indira Gandhi had tried to bring in autocracy in India.

“Rahul Gandhi doesn’t believe in the strength of India’s Constitution. This is because he doesn’t know India’s history,” Fadnavis told reporters in Mumbai after inaugurating a 'cyber awareness month' programme.

“His (Rahul’s) grandmother Indira Gandhi tried to bring in autocracy in the country by changing the Constitution but Indians rejected her,” the chief minister said.

“This is the Constitution given to Indians by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. Nobody has the power to weaken it,” Fadnavis said, and claimed that Rahul Gandhi is a “serial liar”.

Speaking at the EIA University in Medellin, Colombia, Rahul Gandhi said India has a much more complex system as compared with China and India’s strengths are very different from that of the neighbouring country.

Claiming that there is a “wholesale attack on the democratic system” in India currently, he said allowing different traditions to thrive is important for the country, as “we cannot do what China does, which is to suppress people and run an authoritarian system”.

Fadnavis also targeted Shiv Sena-UBT leader Uddhav Thackeray over his attack on the ruling BJP.

Addressing his party’s Dussehra rally in Mumbai, Uddhav Thackeray had likened the BJP to "a single-cell organism amoeba", inviting a sharp response from Fadnavis, who called him a "frustrated leader." Uddhav had said the BJP is like an "amoeba" that "shifts shape to suit its politics, breaks society, and thrives on unrest." Fadnavis said Thackeray's speech had "saved" him money.

"Whatever remarks he made yesterday, he actually saved me Rs 1,000. I had said that if he spoke even a single word about development, I will shell out Rs 1,000. He did not speak a single word on development in the rally," Fadnavis said. PTI VT VT