The two-day discussion on the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Indian Constitution began on a positive note, with the Lok Sabha functioning smoothly and members expressing their viewpoints on the subject. Newly elected MP Priyanka Gandhi made her debut speech during the discussion, criticising the ruling party for attempting to subvert the Constitution.
Speaking with poise for over 30 minutes in Hindi, Priyanka punctuated her arguments with real-life examples of people suffering due to the indifference of authorities. Her debut speech provided ample evidence that the Opposition benches have found an effective speaker—an essential, long-missing element in their arsenal. "The ruling party would have started changing the Constitution, had it not been for the Lok Sabha. People didn’t allow that."
From the treasury benches, the lead speaker was Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in a scathing attack on the grand old party for appropriating the work done by the constitutional framers. Rajnath Singh reminded the Congress of the imposition of Emergency, dismissal of state governments and superseding of Supreme Court judges in the past. "Expressions for protecting the Constitution from the Congress do not look good."
Later leaders from other parties too expressed their views on the "holy book" saying it should be preserved at all costs. Predictably, the debate also became an occasion to attack each other for going against the spirit of the Constitution.
Earlier during her speech, Priyanka questioned the ruling party’s obsession with discrediting Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. "His name can be erased from the books, but his role in the Independence struggle and nation-building can never be erased from this country."
Priyanka shied away from addressing the criticism over the imposition of Emergency by her grandmother and PM Indira Gandhi. "You should learn from it and apologise for your mistakes." This showed that she was not afraid to brush the criticism hurled at them, but instead turned it back towards the ruling party – an effective strategy to handle political attacks.
The ruling party had fielded Rajnath Singh to lend heft to its stand on the constitution. “The BJP has lived the principles of the Constitution -- be it giving constitutional status to the backward commission, providing for women's reservation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies or introducing the Goods and Services Tax (GST), and has also defended those against the assault from the Congress.”
The defence minister added that he was proud that under Prime Minister Modi's leadership, their government was working with the spirit of 'Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas.'
During his speech, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also attacked the BJP governments for fostering inequality and failing to uphold the rights of marginalised communities, particularly the Muslims. "This Constitution is our armour, our security. It provides us strength whenever needed. The Constitution is the true guardian of the rights of the oppressed, neglected, suppressed, and deprived for whom the Constitution is a matter of life and death."
TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee, meanwhile, said every provision of the Constitution must be broadly interpreted and extended to every poor person in India.
Panchayati Raj Minister and JDU MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh also attacked the previous Congress governments for "misusing Article 356 of the Indian Constitution to topple the opposition governments in states". "All their Prime Ministers, including Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, have several times invoked Article 356 of the Constitution to topple elected governments in the states," Rajiv Ranjan said questioning the records of the Congress governments.
