Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the Congress never respected the Constitution and five generations of leaders tried to insult and weaken the sacred document for political gains and appeasement politics. Emergency and harming constitutional freedoms.
Concluding the two-day special debate in the Lok Sabha on the occasion of 75 years of the Constitution, Modi drew a comparison between the constitutional amendments brought by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, claiming that the opposition party has historically been in favor of reservation. Was against, he appreciated it. Achievements of his government, stressed that his welfare reach was guided by the Constitution, and read out 11 pledges to make India a developed nation by 2047, the centenary of independence.
In his detailed 110-minute speech in Hindi, the Prime Minister repeatedly targeted the Congress and the Gandhi family and criticized it for making the biggest “jumla” or false promise of “Garibi Hatao” (eradicate poverty) – an election slogan that Contributed to Indira Gandhi’s landslide victory in the 1971 elections. He also said that his government is always working to strengthen the unity and integrity of the nation – the prime concern of the framers of the Constitution.
“A family of Congress left no stone unturned to hurt the Constitution. They ruled for 55 out of the 75 years of our visit, so the country has a right to know what happened. The tradition of bad thoughts, distorted politics and conduct of this family continued. The family challenged the Constitution repeatedly at all levels,” Modi said.
“Destroying the spirit of the Constitution is in the veins of the Congress. For us, the purity and sanctity of the Constitution is everything.”
He repeatedly referred to the Emergency, which coincided with the 25th anniversary of the Constitution, to hit out at the Congress. “The country was turned into a prison and the rights of the common citizen were looted. The sins of Congress can never be erased. Democracy was strangled,” he said.
“Congress has repeatedly insulted, weakened and betrayed the Constitution,” he said.
The Prime Minister was responding to the two-day debate on the Constitution, which proceeded smoothly except for brief interruptions.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that the PM did not say anything new in the speech. “He has bored us. It took me back decades…I felt like I was sitting in that double phase of math,” she said.
Modi said that between 1947 and 1952, an interim government that had not won any election and had no popular mandate changed the Constitution and attacked freedom of expression. At the time, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was leading the interim government in independent India’s first generation of elections in 1951–52.
“This was an insult to the founders of the Constitution and a grave insult to them. What he could not do in the Constituent Assembly, he did it through the back door. That was a sin,” he said.
He was referring to the First Amendment to the Constitution which brought about a number of changes including imposing certain restrictions on freedom of expression, protecting zamindari abolition laws and enacting laws to help weaker sections face legal challenges on the basis of their right to equality. Were done.
Modi alleged that Nehru had written a letter to the Chief Ministers at that time saying that if the Constitution came in the way of the government, it would have to be amended. “This sin was committed in 1951. The country was not peaceful.” (President) Rajendra Prasad, Chairman (GV Mavalankar), JB Kripalani and Jayaprakash Narayan asked Nehru to stop. But he did not heed the advice of these senior leaders,” Modi said.
The PM said that Congress governments amended the Constitution 75 times in six decades. “Congress tasted amendments in the Constitution, it continued to bleed the spirit of the Constitution. The seed sown by the first Prime Minister was nurtured by Indira Gandhi.
In 1971, the Constitution was amended to overturn the Supreme Court order, he said, referring to the 25th amendment brought in to roll back the apex court’s landmark judgment in Golaknath vs. Punjab, which had found that the central government had no power to make fundamental changes. rights.
“When her election was found unconstitutional by the court, almost forcing her to resign, she became angry and imposed emergency to save her chair,” he said.
He also referred to the 39th Amendment passed in 1975 which kept the elections of the President, Vice President, Prime Minister and Speaker of the Lok Sabha beyond the scrutiny of the courts.
During the Emergency, thousands of people were jailed, courts were gagged and newspapers were silenced. When HR Khanna gave a judgment respecting the Constitution, he was barred from becoming the Chief Justice of India… The heartless government tore the Constitution to pieces,” he said, referring to Justice Khanna’s famous dissent in the ADM Jabalpur case. Hui said.
Modi then moved towards Rajiv Gandhi, whom he held responsible for vote bank politics during the Shah Bano controversy. “They shocked the Constitution and harmed the spirit of equality and justice for all,” he said.
Modi said that when the Supreme Court gave authority to the elderly Shah Bano, Rajiv Gandhi succumbed to conservatism and overturned the decision through a new law.
In 1985, the apex court ruled in Bano’s favor and awarded her maintenance as a divorced Muslim woman. Amid protests from conservative groups, the central government enacted a law the following year that substantially reduced the impact of the decision.
“For vote bank politics, Rajiv Gandhi sacrificed the Constitution. They played with the Constitution, a practice which was continued by the next generation,” he said.
He then launched a veiled attack on former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and then PM Manmohan Singh with quotes that appear to be taken from Sanjay Baru’s 2014 book. The Accidental Prime MinisterIn the book, Baru, who was Singh’s media advisor from 2004 to 2008, quoted Singh as saying that there cannot be two centers of power. “I have to accept that the party president is the center of power. The government is accountable to the party,” Baru wrote, apparently quoting Singh.
Modi targeted the National Advisory Council, a body headed by Sonia Gandhi, saying that it has been placed above the Prime Minister’s Office.
He also hit out at Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, recalling how he had publicly tore down an ordinance approved by the cabinet in 2013 – aimed at protecting convicted MPs from immediate disqualification. in public. Unfortunately, one person tears up the proposal and the cabinet changes its decision. What kind of arrangement was this? It was his habit to play with the Constitution and weaken it.
The Prime Minister drew differences between the constitutional amendments brought by the BJP and the Congress, alleging that the BJP was correcting past mistakes, while the Congress was using the Constitution as a political pawn.
He said that his government has made amendments in the Constitution for the welfare of other backward classes, to bring reservation for economically weaker sections, to implement women’s reservation, to neutralize Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Amended. He said, “We amended the Constitution for unity, integrity and national interest, not for the sake of power.”
Modi also mocked the Congress and said that an organization that has never followed its party constitution is immersed in dynastic politics. He cited the example of Vallabhbhai Patel’s failure to become PM and his dealings with former party chief Sitaram Kesari to accuse Congress of being captured by one family. “Those who lack democratic spirit, who could not follow the constitution of their party, how will they respect the constitution of the country?” he asked.
In contrast, he cited the example of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who said he respected the Constitution and resigned from power without resorting to any unconstitutional means to cling to power after losing trust votes in 1996 and 1998. decided to. He said, “The other party did a cash-for-vote scam, Parliament was turned into a market. But Atal ji was committed to the Constitution.”
He blamed the Congress for invoking Article 35A – which gave special benefits to permanent residents of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir – without parliamentary approval and alleged that successive Congress governments had left the memorials and buildings planned for Dr BR Ambedkar incomplete. Insulted. He said that these projects were completed by BJP governments.
“They were full of hatred and bitterness toward a man everyone respected,” he said.
Modi praised Ambedkar, saying that his foresight resulted in reservations for marginalized castes, but alleged that Congress neglected to celebrate his centenary and obstructed the award of Bharat Ratna to India’s first law minister, who It finally happened under a non-Congress administration in 1990.
“These people, who knew vote bank politics, wanted to do religious appeasement and harm SC/ST/OBC people…From Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi, Congress prime ministers opposed reservation,” he said.
He said the Congress kept the Mandal Commission report, which had recommended OBC quota in jobs and education, on the back burner for decades and repeatedly tried to introduce religious quotas.
“This is the sin of Congress. In the quest for power and to please the vote bank, Congress tried to overturn the decision of the Constituent Assembly against religious quota,” he said.
Hitting back at the PM, Congress’ organization general secretary in-charge KC Venugopal said, “…while people were expecting answers from him on the injustice and inequality happening to the Indian society, he decided to bring out stale points against the Congress.” Kiya, who has lost.” all echoed among the public.
