Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday called upon people to identify ‘anti-constitutional Manuwadis’ who favour the ‘Manusmriti’ over the Constitution. Siddaramaiah warned that an “unwritten Manusmriti” governed the country before Dr B R Ambedkar’s Constitution came into force.

He was speaking here after inaugurating the ‘Constitution Day Celebration – 2025’. “... The anti-human and anti-equality rules in the Manusmriti had no place in Ambedkar’s Constitution. That is why Manuwadis oppose our Constitution,” the Chief Minister said.

Manuwadis are those who believe in ‘Manusmriti’ (ancient Indian text based on Hindu tradition) Building an equal society and eliminating inequality is the aspiration of our Constitution and Ambedkar, he said.

Siddaramaiah reminded the gathering that “we the people of INDIA” is the basic mantra of the Constitution. According to him, the Constitution was approved after a comprehensive discussion in the Constituent Assembly for a year about what kind of Constitution the people of this country need.

“Federal, unitary, written, non-written Constitutions are there in the world. Ours is a written Constitution. No other country has as many castes and religions as our country. Therefore, Ambedkar gave a Constitution that is acceptable to this land.”

Countering the argument that Ambedkar was not the architect of the Constitution, Siddaramaiah emphasised that Ambedkar’s deep understanding of the caste system and its dangers led him to incorporate the provision of reservation.

Despite the constitutional ideals of freedom, equality, and fraternity, the CM rued that these aspirations remain unfulfilled even many years after independence. He noted that even after reformers like Basavanna fought against the caste system, the upper caste people are not letting go of caste. Siddarmaiah said the caste will weaken only when the lower caste ‘Shudra’ class achieves economic power.

Siddaramaiah highlighted his government’s initiatives such as ‘Bhagya’ schemes to achieve the constitutional goal of eradicating inequality.Behind all the ‘Bhagya’ schemes and the five guarantees that have been implemented now, there is the hope of eliminating inequality and bringing economic power to everyone, he added.