PM Modi: Nehru to Rahul, Congress dealt repeated blows to Constitution | News from India

Significantly, Modi also reiterated his government's commitment to a uniform civil code, saying he was concentrating all his forces on crafting a secular civil code, in line with the spirit of the Constitution .

In his nearly two-hour speech, Modi repeatedly spoke of the country's unity, saying diversity was India's uniqueness and should be celebrated. This would be the best tribute to BR Ambedkar, he said.

However, for most of his speech, Modi targeted the Congress, listing instances where the Nehru-Gandhi family took issue the Constitution at all levels. On the other hand, he added, his government lives by the spirit of the Constitution, and its policies and decisions since 2014 are aimed at strengthening the strength and unity of India, in accordance with the vision of the Constitution.

Seeking to counter Congress' rhetoric on reservations, Modi said: From Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi, Congress prime ministers have strongly opposed reservations. History bears witness to this. Nehru wrote long letters to chief ministers opposing reservations. Moreover, they made long speeches against reservations in Parliament… For decades, the Mandal Commission report was kept in the trash… It was only when the Congress was removed from power… that the OBCs obtained reserves.

It is the sin of the Congress if reservations had been given to OBCs earlier: they would have held several posts today in the service of the country. But they (Congress) did not allow this to happen, he said, adding that the SC, ST and OBCs were the ones who lost the most due to the Congress's appeasement policy.

Rahul has often spoken about the dismal representation of SCs, STs and OBCs in the top bureaucracy.

Modi said the Congress was now playing a game to introduce reservations on the basis of religion. While the framers of the Constitution took a considered decision to reject reservations on the basis of religion, in the interest of the unity and integrity of the country, the Congress, in its greed for power and to appease his reservation of votes, pushed for this decision, violation of the constitutional spirit, he declared.

In some places they also gave it away. Today, they face setbacks from the Supreme Court. And that is why under this second pretext… they will do this, they will do that… it is clear that they want to draw attention to the foundations of Dharma… that is why this game is being played. (That's why, with different excuses… they will do this, they will do that… it is clear that they want to make reservations on the basis of religion… that is why we play this game), he said.

Modi accused the Nehru-Gandhi family of denigrating the spirit of the Constitution based on amendments made by former Prime Ministers Nehru, Indira and Rajiv; Sonia Gandhi's unconstitutional National Advisory Council (NAC) being placed above the Prime Minister and his cabinet; to Rahul's public rejection of an ordinance brought by the then Manmohan Singh government. The Prime Minister did not name Rahul, only referring to him as an arrogant person.

This family challenged the Constitution at all levels, Modi said, adding that the first blow to the Constitution was inflicted by the unelected Nehru government in 1951, when it amended the Constitution to curtail the freedom of expression.

From 1947 to 1952, there was no elected government but a chosen government. It was a temporary system. The Constitution was amended, in an insult to its authors, through a back door. He (Nehru) was not the Prime Minister of an elected government. He committed a sin, he said.

Having tasted blood, each generation of the family has repeatedly hurt the Constitution, Modi said. Emphasizing his point of view, he listed out the 24th Amendment of 1971 which gave Parliament the power to amend any part of the Constitution, including fundamental rights; the imposition of a state of emergency by the Indira Gandhi government in 1975; and the passage of a law by the Rajiv Gandhi government to overturn the Shah Bano judgment of the Supreme Court in 1986.

The Congress will never be able to erase this stain, he said, adding that it was attacking the family since its members had been in power for 55 years.

Modi also accused the Congress of denigrating constitutional institutions, saying Article 35A was inserted in the Constitution without Parliament's approval. They held the majority at the time…but Parliament was still in the dark. They wanted to hide it from people, he said.

Modi also reiterated his government's commitment to bring in a uniform civil code. Keeping in mind the spirit of the Constitution and its framers, hum poori taqaaat se lage hue hai secular civil code ke liye (we concentrate all our forces on the development of a secular civil code), he- he declared.

In his Independence Day speech this year, Modi had said it was time for the country to move towards a secular, non-communal and discriminatory civil code. In Lok Sabha on Saturday, Modi said the Constituent Assembly wanted a uniform civil code to be implemented by an elected government.

The framers of the Constitution, including BR Ambedkar and KM Munshi, argued for the need to abolish personal laws based on religion, he said. The Supreme Court has also repeatedly spoken about the need to implement a uniform civil code, he added.

Modi said every big decision of his government – ​​be it the repeal of Article 370, implementation of GST, rolling out initiatives like one nation, one map health – aimed to promote unity. While emphasizing unity, he also spoke about celebrating India's diversity. We need to integrate the celebration of diversity in our life, which would be the true tribute to Ambedkar, he said.

Modi said the Congress, which has not respected its own constitution, has no right to speak about the country's Constitution. The democratic spirit does not flow in his veins, he said. He said the Congress had made Nehru prime minister, ignoring the views of the 12 state units of the party which had supported Vallabhbhai Patel. Not a single committee was with Nehru. How can people who do not adhere to their own party's constitution accept the country's Constitution, he said.

And what happened to former Congress president Sitaram Kesri, who belonged to an extremely backward caste? He was locked in the bathroom, thrown onto the sidewalk. The entire party is controlled by a single family. They disdained democracy, he said.

On the other hand, Modi said, the AB Vajpayee government resigned when it could not prove its majority in 1996. This showed our commitment to the spirit of the Constitution…we did not distribute posts… did not offer someone the post of Deputy Prime Minister… to cling to power. , he said.

We did not choose the path of bargaining… in 1999, Vajpayee chose to resign after his government was defeated by one vote… we did not resort to horse trading… This is our history, our culture, our tradition . And on the other side, we saw the scandal of cash voting (during the vote of no confidence in 2008), wads of banknotes in Parliament which transformed the spirit of democracy into a market… Whether in the past or now Congress is known for its greed. for power, he said.

Modi said the Congress had amended the Constitution several times for the sake of power. He said Congress had amended the Constitution to immunize the prime minister, president and governor from legal action. On the other hand, he added, his government amended the Constitution to provide 10 percent reservation for the poor in the general category, to empower women by granting them 33 percent reservation in Parliament and Assemblies, to bring down the wall of Article 370 to preserve unity and ensure the implementation of the Constitution in all parts of the country.

To say that the favorite word of congressional leaders today is totalModi said the biggest jumla was gareebi hataoa slogan coined by Indira Gandhi. It was a “jumla” that helped them politically, but did not help the poor, he said.