He has demanded from Prime Minister Narendra Modi Apologies for “twisting the facts”.Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge launched a scathing attack on the BJP while responding to the ruling party’s allegations against the Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family, particularly former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
Speaking after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the debate on the Constitution in the Upper House, Kharge said that the “idea for the Constitution” was “deeply connected with the Congress” as Nehru made the demand for a Constituent Assembly the main issue of the 1937 elections. Criticizing the BJP-RSS, he also said that it was because of the Congress that women’s reservation exists today and that universal adult suffrage was “the contribution of Nehru”.
“During 1951-52, the Organizer (an RSS-affiliated magazine) wrote against universal adult suffrage, Pandit Nehru would live to acknowledge the failure of universal adult suffrage in India. So, he was against voting rights for women, Shudras and the poor,” Kharge said.
Countering the PM and Sitharaman’s claim that the first amendment to the Constitution by the “unelected” Nehru government in 1951 was in bad faith, Kharge said: “You grew so much in hatred of Nehru that you attacked the Constitution. The Assembly, the Interim Parliament, (Vallabhbhai) Patel and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. He (Prime Minister) should admit his mistake. The Prime Minister forgot that the first amendment was made by the Provisional Parliament and its members are members of the Constituent Assembly.
Nehru wanted to blame Modi”Curtailment of freedom of speech and expressionAnd “Nehru wrote long letters to the Chief Ministers opposing reservations”, Kharge said, adding that the 1951 amendment was meant to allow Scheduled Castes and Tribes to get reservations, allow land reform and prevent communal propaganda.
He said it was Patel, who “on July 3, 1950… wrote to Nehru and suggested constitutional amendments.” “So, Nehru wrote to the Chief Ministers. This was mentioned in the Prime Minister’s speech that he should apologize to the nation by tweeting the facts to defame Nehru. This is my demand.”
“You are insulting even Sardar Patel,” Kharge added.
Kharge said that if the Congress had not done anything for the country when it was in power, as the BJP claimed, “You wouldn’t have come to this House as an engineer and a doctor…Modiji wouldn’t have become the Prime Minister and a working class person. I wouldn’t have become the Leader of the Opposition.”
Praising Indira, Kharge said, “Today, December 16, is Bangladesh Liberation Day. Our brave leader Indira Gandhi dismembered Pakistan, Bangladesh became independent and captured a million Pakistani soldiers. The Iron Lady showed that no one who works against India can be at peace. He then pointed to the Treasury benches and said, “These people should at least try to protect the minorities there.”
Regarding the Emergency, Kharge said it was a mistake for which Indira was criticized but she returned to power.
Attacking the BJP and the RSS, Kharge said, “How many times have they gone to jail for what they did for the Constitution, or for the country.”
“RSS leaders opposed the constitution in 1949 because it was not based on Manusmriti. The organizer’s editorial said that… on January 26, 2002, for the first time, the RSS hoisted the tricolor at its headquarters after a court order,” he said.
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