'Ideals of constitution under attack': Sonia
With a sharp attack on the Modi government, Congress president Sonia Gandhi led the opposition yesterday in a special discussion on the Constitution as Parliament convened for the winter session.
"There is a threat to the principles of the Constitution these days...What we have seen in the past few months, is total violation of the values of the constitution," said Gandhi, clearly setting the stage for a confrontation. Her party has indicated that its primary agenda in the session will be to attack the BJP-led government over what it calls "rising intolerance".
The Congress chief quoted BR Ambedkar, to whom the two-day discussion pays tribute, saying, "No matter how good the Constitution is, if the people who implement it are bad, then the Constitution will also turn out bad. And no matter how bad the Constitution is, if the people who implement it are good, it will turn out to be good," and smiled at protests from the treasury benches, adding, "This is for you and us."
Meanwhile, Union Minister Rajnath Singh sparred with the opposition Congress yesterday over the word "secularism" during a special discussion in Parliament on the Constitution.
"Secularism is the most misused word in the country...This must stop. Because of the rampant misuse of the word, there have been instances of tension in society," Singh said, taking on the Congress, which has come to Parliament this session prepped to attack the government over what it calls "growing intolerance."
Singh contended that BR Ambedkar, considered the not believe it was necessary to include the words "secular" and "socialist" - added later to the Preamble in the Congress regime of Indira Gandhi - as "these are values core to the Indian ethos."
Singh's argument that the word secular translates in Hindi not to "Dharam Nirpeksh" or non-religious but "Panth Nirpeksh" or non-sectarian, too has drawn counter-attacks from Congress and other opposition leaders.
"Whoever you are and whatever faith you practice, you are respected by the government of India. Splitting hair on the word secularism is mere wordplay," said Shashi Tharoor of the Congress outside Parliament.
The Left's Sitaram Yechury said, "The Home Minister's speech shows the real agenda, why this government wanted a Constitution Day. They want a Hindu Rashtra as the RSS never accepted secular."
He pointed out that "all our official parliament bills that are translated in Hindi use the term dharm nirpeksh."
Parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu said, "The nation knows who has subverted the Constitution for personal reason or who has amended it by putting people behind bars. It is the history of the Congress. They have no moral right to criticize."
It was clear that battle-lines are firmly drawn for the session when soon after Singh's speech, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi alleged, "we have seen in the past few months, a total violation of the values of the constitution."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will intervene in the discussion.
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