Modi government doesn't subscribe to Anantkumar Hegde's 'BJP here to change Constitution' remark: Vijay Goel

NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government on Wednesday disapproved of Union Minister and BJP MP AnantKumar Hegde's controversial remarks that the ruling BJP was "here to change the Constitution" and remove the word "secular" from it.

Amid uproar over Hegde's remark, Union Minister Vijay Goel told the Rajya Sabha that the government does not subscribe to views expressed by his party colleague.

Goel's statement came after the Opposition on Wednesday disrupted the Parliament proceedings saying Hegde has "no right" to be in the House or in the government.

Congress, SP and BSP members trooped into the Well of the House shouting slogans seeking removal of Hegde.

The trouble started during the laying of the official papers on the table of the House as opposition members shouted "shame, shame" when Hegde, who is Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, rose to lay the papers listed against his name.

Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad sought a clarification from the Minister as he could leave the House soon after laying papers.

The Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship at a function in Kukanur in Karnataka on Monday urged people to "claim with pride that they are Muslim, Christian, Lingayat, Brahmin, or a Hindu" and said: "Those who, without knowing about their parental blood, call themselves secular, they don't have their own identity...They don't know about their parentage, but they are intellectuals.

"Some people say the Constitution says secular and you must accept it. We will respect the Constitution, but the Constitution has changed several times and it will change in the future too.

"We are here to change the Constitution and we'll change it soon."