NEW DELHI: The much-anticipated debate to commemorate the 75th year of the Constitution kicked off on Friday with the ruling BJP-led NDA and Opposition INDIA bloc sparring over Constitutional values, its relevance and key political issues.
Initiating the debate in the Lok Sabha, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh attacked the Congress saying a particular party always tried to ‘hijack and appropriate’ the framing of the Constitution.
Rajnath said the Congress made 28 Constitutional amendments during Indira Gandhi’s tenure and 10 during Rajiv Gandhi’s rule. And the Manmohan Singh government made seven amendments. The BJP has never compromised the independence and autonomy of institutions and always adhered to the Constitution, Rajnath said.
The Constitution talked about religious freedom and it had been specified that the state would not have a religion but be secular, he added. “Opposition leaders carry the Constitution in their pockets, they have done this for generations, but the BJP holds it to its forehead,” Rajnath said.
Opening the debate for the Opposition, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra rebutted Rajnath’s criticisms. “Treasury bench members keep talking about the past and Nehru. Why don’t you talk about the present? Tell the country what you are doing. Is everything Nehru’s responsibility?” she asked in her first address in Parliament.
Priyanka also hit out at the government over the Adani issue, which invited protests. “Farm laws have been changed for industrialists. Cold storages in Himachal Pradesh were given to Adani by the Centre. Ports, airports, factories, mines and public sector units are controlled by one person. The poor are getting poorer, while the rich are getting richer,” she alleged.
Referring to Rajnath’s criticism of Emergency, Priyanka said, “Learn from what happened in 1975. Why don’t you go back to ballot paper?”
Criticishing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she said, “Maybe he hasn’t understood that this is the Constitution of India, not the Sangh’s.”