Banerjee made the remarks while addressing a gathering at the Calcutta Club in Kolkata. Without taking any names, she said, “They want to change the spirit of the Constitution. We love our Constitution because it’s the spirit of the Preamble. It is the guiding spirit of the nation. (It has) Justice, liberty, equality, fraternity, opportunity for all to stay together, unity, diversity and so many things.”

“However, nowadays what is going on is horrible. I cannot accept it if someone tells me what I should eat, wear or what language I should speak. You cannot control us and stop our voice. If the Constitution stops the voice of the people then what is the need for a democracy? Everybody has the right to live in peace,” she said.

“Some may say that new days are coming, so India needs a new Constitution. I feel India does not need a new Constitution because when someone talks about changing the Constitution, it is not a real point of view but to please an ideology or vision.”

Banerjee claimed that federalism in the country has been “totally bulldozed”, alleging that several states were not getting their shares of the GST collected. Criticising PM Narendra Modi, she said, “If you get a ration card, the PM’s photo will be there. Even on a Covid-19 vaccine the PM’s photo will be there… I have never seen such a good PM. I am a seven-term MP… I have worked with many PMs like Rajiv Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, P V Narasimha Rao, I K Gujral and even H D Deve Gowda. But I have never seen so cute, so sweet and so good a PM.”      With PTI inputs