Thiruvananthapuram, July 11: In a remark which is likely to evoke sharp reaction from the Centre-ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said India will become a "Hindu Pakistan" if the BJP is voted to power again.

While speaking at an event in his constituency Thiruvananthapuram, Tharoor said the Congress needs to win the next general elections in order to "save our democratic institutions". Describing the BJP as a force which undermines democracy, he claimed the party won't refrain from rewriting the Constitution if it wins in 2019.

"If they (BJP) win a repeat in the Lok Sabha our democratic constitution as we understand it will not survive as they will have all the elements they need to tear apart the constitution of India and write a new one," he said.

"That new one will be the one which will enshrine principles of Hindu Rashtra, that'll remove equality for minorities, that'll create a Hindu Pakistan & that isn't what Mahatama Gandhi, Nehru, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad & great heroes of freedom struggle fought for," he added.

Tharoor's scathing attack against the BJP comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took an apparent jibe at him while addressing a rally in Jaipur. Modi said the Congress has turned into a bail-gadi as most of its top brass leader are out on bail. A day before Modi's remarks, Tharoor secured a provisional bail in the Sunanda Pushkar death case.

Sunanda, the late wife of Tharoor, was found dead under mysterious circumstances at the Leela Palace hotel in Delhi in 2014. In the chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police, Tharoor has been named as the prime accused.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 11, 2018 10:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).