Amit Shah responds to Opposition’s charge on reservation, constitution: ‘If we had to…’

Lok Sabha elections: Union home minister Amit Shah said there has been no change in the BJP’s commitments. Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday dismissed charges that the government was planning to amend the Constitution, saying the BJP has not misused its majority in Parliament. Speaking to NDTV, Shah said, “If we had to change the Constitution, we could have done it earlier.” “We have not misused the majority we have had for ten years. The Congress has the habit of misusing majority, not us,” he said. Amid the opposition’s claim that the Bharatiya Janata Party will abolish the reservation policy if it returns to power at the Centre, Shah asserted that the Narendra Modi government will never touch it or let anyone else do it. “We will never touch the policy of reservation or let anyone else do it,” he said. Shah also hit out at the Congress party over former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel’s remark in the wake of a major anti-Maoist operation in Bastar region. A day after 29 Maoists were killed in an encounter with security forces in the Kanker district, Baghel alleged that “fake encounters have gone up” under BJP’s rule and the tribal population is “worried and scared”. The charges were repeated by Chhattisgarh state Congress chief Deepak Baij who said that the government should make it clear that all 29 were Maoists. “Bhupesh Baghel is a former Chief Minister of the state, and whatever he says, he says after full consideration. We can’t deny that he has some input from his sources. Since the BJP government has come to power, we have seen several incidents where villagers were killed in the name of anti-Naxal operation,” Baij was quoted as saying by ANI.