Countering the Opposition's charge that the BJP intends to change the Constitution if NDA manages to cross the 400-seats mark in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told NDTV that "those who have repeatedly insulted the Constitution are now dancing with the Constitution on their heads".
Speaking to NDTV's editor-in-chief Sanjay Pugalia, the Prime Minister said his government has had the support of 400 MPs since the 2019 election results. "Linking 400 seats and Constitution is stupidity. The issue is they don't want the House to function," he said.
Targeting the main Opposition Congress, he said, "They talk about the Constitution. I ask, what happened to the Congress's Constitution. Does this (Gandhi) family accept Congress's Constitution? (Purushottam Das) Tandon became Congress president (in 1950) as per the Constitution. But (Jawaharlal) Nehruji did not accept this. Nehruji did drama, he said he would not be part of the working committee. Eventually, the Congress had to remove its elected national president to make this family happy."
The Prime Minister then referred to the 1998 episode in which former Congress president Sitaram Kesri was reportedly locked in a room to prevent any obstacle in Sonia Gandhi's elevation as party chief. "He was locked in the bathroom, thrown out overnight and Soniaji became Congress president. I want to know when the Congress functionaries of today became the party's members. They must declare to the country. Do they have the right to talk about Constitution?"
The Prime Minister said that when the Constitution was prepared, what was written was for the present and the future, but India's heritage was showcased through drawings. "All the drawings were from India's heritage, from Ramayana to Mahabharata to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Pandit Nehru dumped this. The Constitution published later, he had removed them," he said.
"In the first amendment to the Constitution, Pandit Nehru snipped the freedom of expression. This was the first blow to the soul of the Constitution. Then they (Congress) attacked the thought behind the Constitution. By misusing Article 356, they toppled governments a hundred times. They brought Emergency, put Constitution into the dustbin. First Nehru ji committed this sin, then Indira ji and then Rajiv ji came. Rajiv ji was bringing a law to control the media, he threw away the Supreme Court's Shah Bano judgment and amended the Constitution for vote bank politics," he said.
The Prime Minister then referred to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's act of tearing up a piece of paper and demanding that a UPA government ordinance that sought to overturn a rule that disqualifies convicted MPs and MLAs must be "torn and thrown out". "These people are talking about the Constitution," he said.
The Prime Minister also targeted Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav over his conviction in a fodder scam case. "Those jailed for stealing fodder and are out on health grounds are talking about Constitution," he said.
Those who shattered the spirit of Constitution... they tore the draft of Women Reservation Bill inside Parliament. Those who severely insulted the Constitution are now dancing with the Constitution on their heads. They are lying," the Prime Minister said.
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