Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday opened the debate in the Rajya Sabha on 75 years of the Constitution, asserting that it has stood the test of time.
She also attacked the Congress party and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, accusing them of making constitutional amendments not to strengthen democracy, but to protect those in power.
Initiating the discussion, Sitharaman paid homage to the 389 members of the Constituent Assembly, including 15 women, who took up the arduous challenge and prepared the Constitution for India in a very challenging environment.
"As the country marks the 75th year of its Constitution, "it is time to reaffirm our commitment to build India, that is Bharat, that shall uphold the spirit enshrined in this sacred document," she said.
Stating that India and its Constitution stands out in a separate league of its own, Sitharaman said post second World War, over 50 countries had become independent and they had their constitution written.
"Post Second World War, over 50 countries had become independent and had their Constitution written. But many have changed their Constitutions, not just amended them but literally changed the entire feature of their Constitution. But our Constitution has stood the test of time, of course, yielded itself to very many amendments," the finance minister said.
Sitharaman went on to criticise the Congress, alleging that the party had "brazenly kept amending" the Constitution to "help the dynasty."
She also launched a scathing attack on former PM Jawaharlal Nehru, claiming without evidence that he had deplored press scrutiny of his government. "The first prime minister of this country deplored press scrutiny of his government even as he publicly praised freedom of press. There was no doubt about it," she said.
The union minister also accused the Nehru-led interim government in 1950 of introducing a constitutional amendment to curb freedom of speech.
"The Supreme Court in 1950 had ruled in favour of the Communist magazine "Cross Roads" and the RSS organisational magazine "Organizer". But in response, the (then) interim government thought that there was a need for a first Constitutional amendment and that was brought in by the INC and it was essentially to curb the freedom. So India, a democratic country which prides itself even today about freedom of expression saw the first interim government coming up with a Constitutional amendment which was to curb the freedom of speech of Indians and that within one year of adoption of the Constitution," she added.
Rajya Sabha will debate on the issue on Monday and Tuesday.
Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said time would not be a constraint and as many speakers willing to speak would be accommodated by extending the duration of the discussion.