On Gandhi’s remarks that the RSS prefers Manusmriti (an ancient legal text) over the Constitution, the veteran politician emphasised the BJP has always given primacy to the statute book.”Manusmriti is a religious subject. The matter of Hinduism is different. The BJP accepts the Constitution first. The Constitution is based on Sarva Dharma Sambhav. Hindus have the largest population in India, followed by Muslims. Then there are Sikhs, Jains, Christians and Buddhists. People of different religions live in our country. There is no truth in Gandhi’s allegations,” he noted.People from Hindu dharma believe in Manusmriti, but when it comes to the country and its interests, the Constitution comes first, Athawale emphasised.Asked about a top RSS leader’s call to review the terms “socialist” and “secular” in the Constitution’s Preamble, Athawale said, “I don’t know what he has said.But initially words like socialism and secularism were not there in the Constitution. They were added later.””Secularism means one respects Hinduism. I am a Buddhist. I am proud of my religion. But before my religion, I am proud of my country.Baba Saheb (B R Ambedkar) had said religion, language and country are all important,” he argued.Babasaheb said the country is more important than caste, religion or language, Athawale pointed out.”We should be united for the country. The Congress party keeps talking nonsense and the more they do this, the more it will benefit Modi ji,” the Union minister contended.
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