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BJP leader and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed on Sunday, 22 May, that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is speaking of breaking up the country when he refers to India as a Union of states.
The BJP has repeatedly made such attacks against Rahul Gandhi for having referred to India as a "Union of states" in remarks made in February 2022.
BJP leaders have claimed that Rahul Gandhi's comment is "deeply problematic and dangerous", "strikes at the core of idea of independent India", etc.
For example, here's what Amit Malviya, BJP leader and head of the party's National Information & Technology (IT) Department, had tweeted.
And then, on 3 February 2022, a day after Rahul Gandhi referred to India as a "Union of states" in the Lok Sabha, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey gave a notice for breach of privilege against him, claiming Rahul had attempted to “incite MPs and the nation” with his remark.
Yep, that's right. India being a "Union of states" isn't some phrase coined by Rahul Gandhi. In fact, India is referred to as a Union of states in the Constitution as well.
Right after the Preamble, Part 1 of the Constitution begins, and the very first line reads:
1. Name and territory of the Union.—(1) India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States
Rahul Gandhi has, in the past, responded to the criticism from the BJP and defended his comment on these grounds. Addressing a rally in Manipur in February, Rahul had said, “I spoke in Parliament about the situation in our country. Over there, I described our country as a Union of States. This is the definition of our India in the Constitution. In the Constitution, we chose to define ourselves as a Union of States.”
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