Congress amended Constitution to help Gandhi family: Nirmala Sitharaman in Rajya Sabha

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lashed out at the opposition and the Congress during the discussion to commemorate 75 years of the Indian Constitution in Rajya Sabha. The Union minister charged the Congress party amended the Constitution to help dynasts and to protect those in power.

Initiating the debate on the Constitution in Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman said, “The Congress party brazenly kept amending the Constitution to help the family and dynasty. These amendments were not to strengthen democracy, but to protect those in power, the process was used to strengthen the family."

Taking a dig at the INDIA bloc, Sitharaman said there are leaders who named their children ‘Misa’ to protest against the emergency. However, those parties do not have issues now in forming an alliance with Congress, Sitharaman said. The finance minister was apparently referring to Lalu Prasad Yadav, who named his daughter Misa, and is in alliance with the Congress.

Sitharaman sought a written apology from Congress MP Jairam Ramesh for accusing her of “lying”. Sitharaman said, “I never lie. Accusing others of lying seems ingrained in the Congress DNA.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader said the Indian Constitution has stood the test of time in the last 75 years of its existence, even as most of the 50 countries that framed their constitution around the same time have rewritten or changed features of their constitutions.

“Many have changed their constitutions, not just amended them, but literally changed the entire feature of their constitution. But our Constitution has stood the test of time, of course, it yielded itself to very many amendments," she said.

The Union minister also paid homage to the 389 members of the Constituent Assembly, including 15 women, who took up the challenge and prepared the Constitution for India in a very challenging environment.