Rajya Sabha on Monday saw treasury and opposition benches trading charges during the discussion on the 'Glorious Journey of 75 Years of the Constitution of India.' Initiating the debate, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Congress party carried out major amendments to the Constitution to brazenly help the "family" and the "dynasty".
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of misleading the country by "twisting facts" about Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's letter on reservation to states and demanded an apology. The Upper House will debate on the issue on Monday and Tuesday.
Sitharaman also termed the Congress party as "anti-women" for not passing the Women's Reservation Bill under pressure of its coalition partners.
The senior BJP leader said the economic policies of the previous Congress governments for about 50 years did not strengthen the Indian economy.
"Each time the Congress brazenly (amended Constitution)... Only to help the family, the dynasty... Kept amending the Constitution," she said.
Citing various amendments, including the 42nd Constitutional Amendment and one related to the Shah Bano case, the Finance Minister said none of the amendments passed the test of four criteria -- economic good, social intent, due process, and constitutional spirit.
She said the amendments were not to strengthen democracy but to protect those in power and strengthen the family.
In her speech, she said renowned lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri and actor Balraj Sahni were both jailed in 1949.
Congress' record of curtailing freedom of speech was not just confined to Sultanpuri and Sahni, she said and highlighted many more instances, including banning of a film called 'Kissa Kursi Ka' just because it questioned the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her son.
Sitharaman further said the spree of curtailing the freedom of expression and freedom of press had happened before 1949 and thereafter also during the Congress rule.
The Minister said India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru adopted the Soviet Model and was carried forward by Indira Gandhi, but the socialist model did not benefit India.
She said the economic policies followed by the Congress governments for 50 years did not strengthen the economy.
Referring to the women reservation in Parliament and state assemblies, Sitharaman said a bill regarding it was passed in the Rajya Sabha in 2008, but the ruling Congress did not take it to the Lok Sabha, as its alliance partners were not in favour of the legislation.
She said Congress is "anti-women" as it did not pass the Women's Reservation Bill to save "Kursi" (power).
Rajiv Gandhi had 426 members in Lok Sabha and 159 members in the Rajya Sabha, they did not have the conviction to pass the Women's Reservation Bill at that time. Very clearly, they have always been anti-women. Shah Bano case is a very clear example, she said.
The Congress Party, she said passed the Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Divorce Act, 1986 which denied Muslim women their right to alimony.
On the other hand, the Modi government brought the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' in the first session, which was held in the new building of the Parliament.
On the contrary, she said her party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has always been committed to women's reservation and increasing women participation in politics. "I myself am a beneficiary of this," the Finance Minister said.
At the start of her speech, she 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.
The Constitution of India "has stood the test of time," she said. "Today we are extremely proud of the way India's democracy is growing."
Stating that India and its Constitution stands out in a separate league of its own, Sitharaman said post the second World War, over 50 countries had become independent and they had their constitution written.
While accusing Prime Minister Modi of misleading the country by “twisting facts” about Pandit Nehru, Kharge also charged the BJP leaders of indulging in 'bhakti' of Prime Minister Modi, asserting that it was leading the country towards dictatorship.
The Congress President cited Modi's speech in which he had said there was no elected government between 1947-1952 and the Congress had illegally amended the Constitution.
Kharge said the first amendment was carried out by the Constituent Assembly members which included Syama Prasad Mookerjee and was undertaken to provide reservation to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, fix problems related to education, employment and abolish Zamindari system.
"I want to inform the House that the Supreme Court had rejected Madras state's decision on reservation."
He said the other aspect of this amendment was to stop communal propaganda and Sardar Patel in a letter on July three, 1950 had suggested to Nehru that constitutional amendment was the only remedy for this problem.
"Therefore, Nehru wrote a letter to chief ministers. This has been mentioned in PM's speech after twisting facts to defame Nehru for which he should apologise to the nation. This is my demand. If you twist the facts before the nation and attempt to defame, then you should apologise in this House and other House and before people of this country," Kharge said.
He said the prime minister lives in past, not in present and it would have been better had he listed present achievements that strengthened democracy.
Kharge claimed erstwhile leaders of RSS were against the Constitution. "In 1949, the entire country knew that RSS leaders opposed the Constitution because it was not based on Manusmriti. RSS mouthpiece Organiser in the edition of November 30, 1949 had written about it," he said.
Kharge said it is clear from debates of the Constituent Assembly that erstwhile leaders of RSS were against the Constitution.
Those who hated the flag, Ashok Chakra and the Constitution are today giving lessons to us on the Constitution."
He said even when many powerful countries were not practising universal adult franchise, women and all sections of societies in India were given the right to vote during the Congress regime through the Constitution.
He said that government leaders cut-paste information and present them as per their convenience to twist facts.
"Those who did not fight for the country, how will they know the importance of freedom, Constitution?" Kharge asked.
BJP has been giving 'jumlas' and befooling people of the country and questioned promises made by Modi to pay Rs 15 lakh, he said adding people are still waiting for the money as well as two crore jobs and doubling of farmers' income.
Kharge said that BJP is against reservation and that is why the party is against caste census. He further said the Congress government will implement women reservation faster than BJP.
He also raised the issue of Manipur, which is suffering from ethnic violence for the last one-and-half years. He said the prime minister travels everywhere but has no time to visit the strife-torn state.
Some other Opposition MPs accused the government of attacking the federal structure and undermining constitutional bodies while claiming that an Emergency-like situation exists in the country.
Debashish Samantaray, whose party Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is not a part of either the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) or opposition's Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), alleged that Constitutional watchdogs have been converted into "pet-dogs".
"What is the situation today, anyone can be sent to jail, chief ministers were put in jail, denied bail. There is definitely an Emergency in the country, I will say it openly," he said.
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale alleged that justice is being denied to people under the NDA government and accused it of destroying the Constitution. He alleged that minorities are being subjected to "atrocities every day".
DMK's Tiruchi Siva accused the Union government of undermining the federal structure of the country.