Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hit out at the Congress for spreading “wrong” narratives about what the BJP might do to the Constitution if it came to power, and said people have decided to give 400 seats to the NDA to punish those who looted the nation and disrespected the Constitution.

Addressing a massive election rally in Gaya, Bihar, he said the Congress had used the Constitution as a political weapon in the last 25 to 30 years. The party spread false narratives and tried to scare people that the nation would burn if the RSS-BJP came to power, he said.

Mr Modi said “for the last 30 years, we have been running governments in several States, and since Atalji’s time, we have been in power and the country has seen the most peaceful time during our governments. They said minorities will have to run away if RSS-BJP comes to power. They are very much here with all respect, enjoying benefits of welfare schemes.”

“They even said RSS-BJP are old-minded, not progressive, but we have proved them wrong by the Chandrayaan landing on the Moon,” he said.

The Prime Minister said “the Congress spread the narrative that if the BJP comes to power, it will change the Constitution. I want to tell them, what to talk of Modi or the BJP, even architect of the Constitution Babasaheb Ambedkar cannot change the Constitution. Therefore, they must stop spreading lies.”

He said the Constituent Assembly worked under the presidentship of Rajendra Prasad and Babasaheb was putting it to words, while eminent people of the country worked for months, keeping in view the nation’s realities. Mr Modi said “those who abuse Sanatan should know, the Constitution had 80 to 90 per cent of its members who were Sanatanis and they cooperated with Babasaheb in the writing of the Constitution.

After Independence, he said, instead of it being used as a political weapon, the Constitution should have been treated as a document of reverence. “Our people have respect for Ramayan, Mahabharat and Gita, and would have had the same reverence for the Constitution,” he said.

Mr Modi said while the Congress tried to politicize the Constitution, his party has been trying to invoke reverence for it. He said when he came up with the proposal for the Constitution Day, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge opposed it in Parliament saying when there is 26 January, why have Constitution Day; he did not understand that there is need to have constant efforts to ensure a sustained respect for it.

Mr Modi said his government had introduced the Constitution Day in schools so that a commitment to chapters and the Preamble of the Constitution could be generated. His government started a new tradition; while the Supreme Court has a two-day seminar on the Constitution, Parliament discusses the subject.

His government organised the biggest programme for the celebration of 75 years of the Constitution, he said. “We want the Constitution used not just for arguments in courts; it should be an instrument of giving strength to our life, for you it may be a political weapon, and for us it will be a centre of reverence and a guide on our journey towards Viksit Bharat in 2047,” he said.

The Prime Minister said people who have treated the Constitution casually should have no place in public life. If social justice is to be brought, the solution lies in the Constitution, he said. The document inspires multi-community society. “The respect we have given to Ambedkar, you have no right to speak; five places connected with his life have been made panch-teerthas,” he said.

“Those spreading lies must be silenced for ever, and if you vote for us, they will be silenced for ever,” he told the crowds. The Prime Minister said the Opposition asks how the BJP is sure of 400 seats. He said people of the country have decided “400 paar” because they want Viksit (developed) in 2047.

“At the same time, they want to give 400 to the NDA to punish those who looted the nation, the corrupt and those who played with the Constitution,” he said. The Prime Minister said this election is to give victory to the NDA and also to punish those who played havoc with the country, that is why the NDA will be getting 400 seats.

“Our country is full of diversities, several languages, dialects, customs, traditions, attire, lifestyles, food habits, the country is full of diversities. A country of different views, communities, schools of thought. In such a situation, the only way to ensure a bright future for the country is to go by the Constitution. The Constitution is sacred for all of us.

He said Modi has come from a poor family and reached here with people’s blessings and the Constitution. If there was no Constitution given by Dr Rajendra Prasad and Babasaheb B R Ambedkar, it was impossible for a person born in a backward class family to have become the Prime Minister of the country.

The BJP recently released its Sankalp Patra, it is for the first time a party’s manifesto is being called a guarantee card, he said. People in Bihar know this election is not just of a party, but an election for the nation.

He said INDI alliance partners of the Congress says Sanatan is like dengue, “is this not an insult of rishi-munis, our ancestors, do they deserve even a single seat in the State, should they be punished or not, should they be not cleaned off from the whole of Bihar.”