New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday concluded the debate on the Constitution in the Rajya Sabha by launching a scathing attack on the Congress for amending it off and on to “curtail the freedom of expression”. He also took a veiled dig at its leader Rahul Gandhi saying, “It has a 54-year-old leader who calls himself `yuva” and who keeps roaming with the Constitution in his pocket and claiming that we would change the statute book.
I want to tell him that the provision to amend the Constitution is within the Constitution.” Shah also accused Gandhi and other Congress leaders of carrying a “blank Constitution” – an issue which was raised by the BJP during the recent Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand – and said, “The Congress lost the election when people found they were carrying fake copies of the Constitution”.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah On The Constitution Of India
The BJP leader said the Constitution was adopted following a democratic process but was thereafter distorted by the party. While Article 368 contains the provision to facilitate amendments to the Constitution, “the Congress in its 55-year rule had made 77 changes.” He said the first Constitutional Amendment Act was introduced in 1951 by the Congress. “After the framing of the Constitution, Congress did not have patience to wait for the Lok Sabha elections and Article 19A was added to curtail the freedom of speech.”
The Nehru-Gandhi family, he said, repeatedly amended the Constitution to serve its ends. “The 24th Amendment was brought by his daughter Indira Gandhi. On November 24, 1971, the Parliament was given the right to dilute the fundamental rights of the citizens,” Shah added.
On the other hand, he said, the BJP government used the constitutional provisions effectively to empower the people. “We brought in a new education policy, which was not opposed even by the Communist parties. We also brought three criminal justice laws that `Indianised’ the criminal justice system. If anyone worked to free the country from a mindset of slavery, it is Prime Minister Modi.”
Union Home Minister Lauds The Conduct Of The Debate
Shah also lauded the conduct of the debate to mark the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution as “an educational one for future generations and the people of the country” and one which demonstrated “which party honoured the Constitution and which party did not”.
