No one can destroy Constitution, says Devendra Fadnavis

On a day when senior Opposition figures united to take on the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra through a protest march in Mumbai, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said they were raising the bogey of the Constitution being under threat to protect vested political interests.

Speaking at a rally organised by the BJP in Central Mumbai, Fadnavis charged that while the erstwhile Congress-led government had handed over the Kamala Mills land, which belonged to mill workers, to the owner, it had dragged its feet on granting Indu Mill for construction of a memorial for Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.

"India has the best Constitution in the world. (Unlike India) Democracy has been unable to survive in our neighborhood, with autocracy replacing it," said Fadnavis, adding that no one could destroy the Constitution, nor did it need any protection.

"The Constitution framed by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar is strong. Those who tried to change it were taught a lesson. Indira Gandhi trod on Indian democracy and imposed the Emergency, where lakhs were made to rot in jail for two years. Such was the strength of the Constitution, that Indira Gandhi was defeated in 1978," he said, warning that the BJP would not tolerate any attempt to subvert the Constitution.

"This is not a Save Constitution rally but one that is aimed at saving their own parties," charged Fadnavis.