Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi referred to Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s remark that there “is nothing Indian about our Constitution” to attack the BJP in Parliament on Saturday. Participating in the debate on the Constitution in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi said Savarkar believed that the Constitution should be superseded by the Manusmriti.

“VD Savarkar, says he clearly stated in his writings that there is nothing Indian about our Constitution… When you (BJP) speak of protecting the Constitution, you are ridiculing Savarkar, you are abusing Savarkar, you are defaming Savarkar,” Rahul Gandhi said amid sloganeering from the treasury benches.

Comparing the BJP with Mahabharat’s Dronacharya, Gandhi said just like he cut Eklavya’s thumb, the party was stifling the aspirations of today’s youth.

“By bringing in lateral entry in government jobs, you are chopping off the thumb of the youth, backward class people, poor,” the Raebareli MP said.

The Congress MP’s attack comes amid a row over the Centre seeking applications for lateral entry into top posts in central ministries earlier this year. The Centre had withdrew the ad after backlash.

Raising the Gautam Adani issue, Gandhi accused the government of giving the businessman undue advantage that, in turn, was harming other small businesses in the country.