Sonipat, Apr 14 (IANS): Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Friday said "our ancestors gave lives to enable India to get freedom and frame the Constitution and now the Congress will make any sacrifice to protect the Constitution".

Addressing the Samvidhan Bachao Rally as part of the Jai Bharat Satyagrah here, the Leader of Opposition said such a large turnout showed that the people have now decided that they just have to wait for the elections.

The crowds turned up despite the peak season of crop harvesting and mercury crossing 42 degrees Celsius.

Hooda recounted the legacy of the Congress and said "our elders fought for freedom and made sacrifices for making the Constitution of the country. In the present situation, some forces want to weaken the Constitution".

"The BJP government cancelled the membership of party leader Rahul Gandhi to suppress the voice of the Opposition," he said.

He said the Congress would not allow the Constitution to be weakened, nor it would allow the voice of Rahul Gandhi to be suppressed.

"A strong India needs a strong Constitution. On the birth anniversary of Bhimrao Ambedkar, let us take a pledge that we would not allow anyone to weaken the rights enshrined in the Constitution," he said.

Haryana unit party president Uday Bhan said on the ideology of Bhimrao Ambedkar, the Congress made laws like the Right to Education, the Right to Information and the Right to Food.

"The Congress brought the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act to empower the weak, backward, exploited and deprived sections of society," he said.