New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, December 14, tore into the Gandhi family for repeatedly amending the Constitution and murdering its spirit for personal interest, vote bank politics and arrogance.
Constitution amended 75 times in 55 years
Speaking on the second day of debate on 75 years of the Constitution’s adoption, PM Modi lashed out at the Congress for getting into the habit of the amendment of the Constitution, a phenomenon that started with first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and continued with former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi.
“The Constitution was amended 75 times in 55 years, the seed sown by the first PM was nurtured by PM Indira Gandhi and subsequent family members,” he said, adding that these people have opposed reservation repeatedly and worked against Dr BR Ambedkar’s dream of reservation, including the implementation of the Mandal Commission report.
As the Congress members stood up to object during PM Modi’s attack on the Gandhi family, the PM repeatedly reminded that he was only stating facts about incidents of disrespect for the Constitution. “To negate a verdict of the Supreme Court in 1971, the Constitution was amended. The provision for judicial scrutiny of Parliament’s right to amend the Constitution, including Fundamental Rights, was taken away by PM Indira Gandhi,” he said.
Emergency and 39th amendment
Recalling the Emergency, PM Modi said former PM Indira Gandhi murdered democracy and disrespected the Constitution by bringing the 39th amendment to the Constitution and denied rights to people and muffled the judiciary and media.
The 39th Amendment of the Constitution of India, enacted on August 10, 1975, placed the election of the President, the Vice President, the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha beyond the scrutiny of the Indian courts, he said.
The idea of “Committed Judiciary” was nurtured by her, PM Modi said, adding that Justice HR Khanna who gave a dissenting judgment over the imposition of Emergency was prevented from becoming the Chief Justice of India.
Innocent people were jailed, atrocities were committed against citizens and all this was happening because the bad habit of amending the Constitution had gone into the blood of the Gandhi family, he said.
On Rahul Gandhi
In a veiled reference to Rahul Gandhi’s 2013 act of tearing a document related to a Union Cabinet’s ordinance to save convicted legislators from the disqualification decision, PM Modi said an arrogant person tore the document and forced the Cabinet to change its decision.
Without naming Rahul Gandhi, the prime minister said an “arrogant” person tore the decision of the Cabinet when the Congress-led UPA government headed by the then prime minister Manmohan Singh was in power.
The National Advisory Council, which was headed by Sonia Gandhi, was put “above” the Cabinet during the UPA rule, he added.
While the makers of the Constitution took a considered decision to disallow reservation on the basis of religion and faith in the interest of the country’s unity and integrity, the Congress in its “greed for power” and to “appease its vote bank” pushed for it in violation of the constitutional spirit, he said.
On Shah Bano’s verdict
Citing the Shah Bano verdict by the Supreme Court of 1985 to give alimony to helpless Muslim widows, he said former PM Rajiv Gandhi amended the Constitution to undo the verdict with a view to vote-bank politics and pleasing fundamentalists.
PM Modi said the next generation of PM Rajiv Gandhi is also indulging in this practice of disrespecting and tinkering with the Constitution.
Reading excerpts from a book by former PM Manmohan Singh, he said the government under Manmohan Singh was answerable to the party and the party chief had emerged as a power centre. “This was for the first time that the Constitution had inflicted such serious blows that an unconstitutional authority ‘National Advisory Council’ was placed above the democratically elected Prime Minister,” said PM Modi, amid shouts of “shame”.
Repeal of Article 370
His government, Modi said, repealed Article 370 to unify the country and brought in GST to roll out “one nation one tax” regime.
He hailed India’s journey since the adoption of the Constitution in 1949 as “extraordinary”, asserting that the country’s ancient democratic roots have long been an inspiration for the world.
India is not only a big democracy but it is the mother of democracy, he said in the Lok Sabha.
PM’s vision for 2047
Modi said India has resolved to become a developed country by 2047 and its unity is the biggest requirement to achieve the goal. “Our Constitution is the basis of our unity,” he said.
Modi said India defied all apprehensions about its democratic future after independence and added its Constitution has brought the country to this stage.
He paid tributes to the makers of the Constitution and the country’s citizens for living up to the spirit of its makers.
Those involved in the making of the Constitution were well aware that India was not born in 1947 or turned democratic in 1950, he said, citing remarks of eminent personalities like Purushottam Das Tandon and Bhim Rao Ambedkar.
Women were given voting rights by the Constitution, Modi said, adding the country is now seeing women-led development.
He lauded the parliamentarians for the unanimous passage of the law to give reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
(With inputs from agencies)
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