NEW DELHI, Dec 13: Accusing the Congress of always choosing “satta” (power) over the Constitution, senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh on Friday said the opposition party never tolerated autonomy of institutions and tried to destroy constitutional principles and spirit.
Initiating a two-day debate in the Lok Sabha on “Discussion on the Glorious Journey of 75 Years of the Constitution of India”, the defence minister said the Congress has sought to project the Constitution as its own contribution, while deliberately ignoring the contribution of several leaders.
“The talk of protection of the Constitution does not seem appropriate coming from it (Congress). These days, I see that many opposition leaders keep the Constitution in their pockets. Actually, this is what they have learnt from childhood, they have seen their families keep the Constitution in their pockets for generations,” he said.
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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on the other hand, always bows before the Constitution and has never played with the independence and autonomy of institutions, Singh asserted, drawing some jibes from the members of the opposition benches during a speech that was largely heard in attention.
The seasoned parliamentarian said the Congress, during its decades in power, often amended the Constitution with a malicious spirit to change it gradually, while the Narendra Modi government has effected amendments to strengthen its fundamental values and for people’s empowerment.
Whenever there was a choice, the Congress chose power over the Constitution, he claimed.
It always tried to “hijack and appropriate” the framing of the Constitution, Singh said, highlighting the imposition of Emergency, dismissal of many state governments and superseding of Supreme Court judges for “standing up” to the then Indira Gandhi government to charge the party with violating constitutional principles.
The BJP leader said he is surprised that those who subverted the Constitution are now speaking for its protection. “Expressions for protecting the Constitution from the Congress do not look good,” he said in a jibe at the opposition party.
The two-day debate, which is likely to end with Prime Minister’s Modi’s speech, is being seen as a highlight of the ongoing parliamentary session amid a running battle between the ruling party and the opposition since the Lok Sabha poll campaign, which was marked by the INDIA bloc building its campaign on the Constitution being allegedly under threat from the BJP.
The BJP has accused the opposition of running a “fake” campaign to mislead people.
In his speech, Singh said the BJP has lived the principles of the Constitution — be it giving constitutional status to the backward commission, providing for women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies or introducing the Goods and Services Tax (GST), and has also defended those against the assault from the Congress.
The Modi government has ensured that the Constitution is applicable in Jammu and Kashmir by repealing Article 370, he added amid thumping of benches by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) members.
Without naming the Hindu Mahasabha, Singh said “many big leaders” had, in 1944, come out with “The Constitution of Hindusthan Free State” to share their ideas about the Constitution India should adopt after its independence. They had called for ensuring citizens’ religious freedom and said that the State must be secular, he added.
The Congress dubbed those leaders as communal, Singh said, slamming it for overturning a Supreme Court judgment to deny alimony to a divorced Muslim woman for its “appeasement politics”.
The Constitution is an expression of the general will of the people, he said.
“We must also remember those who were not part of the Constituent Assembly but whose ideas are part of it (Constitution). We must remember Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bhagat Singh, Veer Savarkar and several other such icons whose ideas strengthened the Constitution,” he added.
“Our Constitution touches upon social, economic, political, cultural lives and shows the way for nation building. It is the outcome of a series of historical events,” he said.
Singh’s mention of the country’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, a persistent target of the BJP’s attack over the years, as one of those who contributed to the making of the Constitution drew rare cheers from the opposition benches. The BJP leader, though, later also charged Nehru with amending the Constitution to override a Supreme Court judgment for “stifling” freedom of expression.
He spoke of the original copy of the Constitution carrying drawings of gods and tributes to Indian traditions to assert that it also carries India’s civilisational and cultural values.
“I am proud that under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, our government is working with the spirit of ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas’ and in accordance with the spirit of dharma and justice enshrined in the Constitution,” Singh said.
Naming several women contributers to the making of the Constitution, he paid his tributes to its “founding mothers”, saying they are ignored while “founding fathers” are often spoken about.
Singh lauded the role of the Supreme Court as the “custodian” and “interpreter” of the Constitution, citing its judgments that negated the then Congress regime’s bid to topple opposition-ruled state governments.
“Today, there is talk of protecting the Constitution. This is the duty of all of us. But we also need to understand who has respected the Constitution and who has disrespected it,” he said, slamming the Congress for its idea of “committed judiciary, committed bureaucracy and committed institutions”, a reference particularly to Indira Gandhi’s rule in the 1970s. (PTI)
