Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday issued a new guarantee — no tampering with the Constitution.

The comments at an election rally in Bihar were seen as an attempt to counter the Opposition’s charge that the BJP was harbouring such designs.

Asking the voters to ensure the decimation of his opponents in the polls, Modi asserted that nobody, not even Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, had the power to change the Constitution.

The Prime Minister said the Constitution was the BJP’s guiding beacon and clarified that the appeal for 400+ seats for the NDA was not aimed at changing it.

“These people (the Opposition) are playing a broken record for the last 25-30 years. Whenever the BJP progresses, they use the Constitution as a political weapon to spread lies that the party will change it. Note this down, leave aside Modi or the BJP, even Babasaheb Ambedkar himself cannot change it. So stop spreading such lies,” Modi said.

Modi was campaigning in Gaya in favour of NDA partner and Hindustani Awam Morcha Secular leader Jitan Ram Manjhi before addressing another rally at Purnea to canvass for JDU candidate Santosh Kushwaha and flying to Bengal and Assam. Both seats go to polls on April 19.

In Gaya, Modi launched a scathing attack on the Opposition, devoting almost a third of his 39-minute speech to this.

Several top Opposition leaders, including Congress’s Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge and RJD chief Lalu Prasad have recently alleged that Modi and the BJP wanted to change the Constitution and the appeal for more than 400 Lok Sabha seats was a step towards it.

Reacting to the Opposition onslaught on the BJP’s slogan of “abki baar, 400 paar”, Modi said: “Let me tell you why 400-paar. The people of the country have decided this because they not only want to see a developed nation in 2047 but also want to punish the corrupt, those who have looted the country and those who played with the Constitution.”

A visibly annoyed Modi said the top leaders of the country had collectively framed the Constitution after months of discussions. He added that those who abuse the Sanatan religion must understand that the Constituent Assembly had 80 to 90 per cent Sanatanis (followers of the Sanatan religion) who assisted Ambedkar.

Modi said only the Constitution could be the guiding factor for a country like India, which is full of diversity.

The Prime Minister pointed out that the country had as much faith in the Constitution as in the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Gita.

“You (the Opposition) tried to politicise the Constitution, we continuously tried to induce faith in it. When we introduced a proposal in Parliament to celebrate Constitution Day across the country, Congress leader Kharge questioned its need and said January 26 is already there. He did not understand that we should always keep inducing trust and respect in the Constitution,” Modi said.

The Prime Minister said his government started the tradition of reading the Constitution and its Preamble in schools on Constitution Day, the Supreme Court holds a two-day seminar and Parliament organises a discussion on the occasion. Also, the Constitution’s diamond jubilee celebrations have been started.

“The Constitution could be a political tool for you, but it is a centre of our faith and the guide to fulfil our dreams for 2047. It has the power to provide social justice. We are marching ahead with it to make a developed Bharat. Brothers and sisters, there is no place in public life for people who kick the Constitution here and there,” Modi said.

He also said the Opposition had no right to say anything because the Centre had honoured Ambedkar by turning five important places connected with his life into places of worship.

Appealing to the voters, Modi said: “It is necessary to forever shut up the people who speak such lies. Your vote will make them quiet forever. I promise this to you.”

Modi said this Lok Sabha election was an opportunity to ensure victory for the NDA and to punish those who had destroyed the country.

While speaking at the Gaya and Purnea rallies, Modi also raised the often-repeated issues of the Congress and RJD’s “corruption”, poor law and order, lack of vision, and the misuse of the poor, Dalits and the backward castes for selfish interests.