Kharge accuses PM Modi of distorting facts about Nehru, Sitharaman says Congress violated constitutional norms

NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha saw a lively debate on Monday on 75 years of the Constitution with opposition members accusing the BJP-led government of eroding constitutional values and the BJP leaders attacking Congress over decisions of its government starting from first Prime Minsiter Jawaharlal Nehru.

There was also sparring in Lok Sabha during the debate on the supplementary demands for grants for 2024-25.

Initiating the debate in Rajya Sabha on 75 years of the Constitution, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a scathing attack on former Congress leaders including Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi and said that many of the Constitutional amendments that they brought were not about strengthening democracy but protecting their power

Sitharaman asserted that post Second World War, over 50 countries had become independent and had their constitution written but many have changed their entire feature but India’s Constitution stood the test of times.

“India’s experience has shown that a constitution remains robust yielding to several amendments which were the need of the hour. I would like to talk about the first Constitutional Amendment Act of 1951. There was an interim government between August 15, 1947, and it lasted till April 1952, post which an elected government took over the charge. But during 1951, when the first constitutional amendment was passed it was an interim government and not an elected government. The amendment added three more heads to Article 19 (2) saying public order could be a cause to restrict freedom of speech, friendly relations with foreign could be a cause to freedom of speech or an incitement to an offence could also be a cause. These were the amendments brought at that time,” she said.

She highlighted the Supreme Court’s two “landmark” judgements in 1950, one year back from this amendment that paved the way for freedom of press under Article 19 (1) (A).

“Many High Courts also upheld the freedom of expression of our citizens but the interim government in response thought that there was a need for the first Amendment that was brought by the Indian National Congress (INC) and it was essentially to curb the freedom,” Sitharaman said.

The Finance Minister also added that India, a democratic country which prides itself even today on freedom of expression saw the first interim government coming up with a constitutional amendment which was to curb the freedom of speech of Indians and that was within one year of adoption of the Constitution.

“In the Parliament, it also did not move smoothly with various eminent members presenting scathing remarks but Prime Minister Nehru went ahead. The interim government continued to curb the freedom of speech before the amendment and prior to it. Majnu Sultanpuri and Balraj Sahani were both jailed in 1949 for reciting a poem against Jawaharlal Nehru. Congress’ record of curtailing freedom of speech didn’t confine with these two people,” Sitharaman added.

Further, Nirmala Sitharaman pointed out the Constitutional amendments brought in to nullify a judgement that arose between Indira Gandhi vs Rajnarayan wherein the order of the Allahabad High Court setting aside the election of Indira Gandhi was challenged.

“During the pendency of this case in the Supreme Court, the Congress enacted the 39th Constitutional Amendment Act in 1975 which added Article 392 (A) to the Constitution which says that elections to the President, Vice President, Prime Minister and Lok Sabha Speaker cannot be challenged in any court in the country and it can be done only before a parliamentary committee. Imagine that for a person to save her chair, an amendment was made even before the court judgement,” she said.

“The judgement that came from the Supreme Court in the Shah Bano case, the Congress passed the Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Divorce act 1986 which denied Muslim women their right to alimony. Our party passed the Nari Shakti Adhiniyam whereas the right of Muslim women was denied by this act,” she added.

Sitharaman also slammed the Congress on enforcing Emergency in the country.

“On December 18, 1976, the then-president gave an accent to the 42nd Constitutional amendment act. During the Emergency when the term of Lok Sabha was extended without proper justification. In the extended term, when the entire opposition was put to jail then came the Constitutional amendment. That was a total invalidated process. Only five members opposed the bill in the Lok Sabha. There was no one in Rajya Sabha to oppose it.

The amendments were not about strengthening democracy but protecting those in power,” the Finance Minister said.

In his remarks, Congress President and the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders of “untruth” and sought an apology him for “distorting facts” about Nehru.

“PM Modi distorted facts about Nehru’s letters to CMs for which he should apologise to the people of the country. This is my demand,” Kharge said.
Taking a jibe at Sitharaman, Kharge said on Monday that she studied at Jawaharlal Nehru University and the students there are so progressive and contributive to nations development whether it is in Economics, Political Science but here today, there’s talk of dismantling democratic values.

“They studied at Jawaharlal Nehru University but I do not know what they studied because the students who studied there are so progressive and they have a big hand in building the country whether it is in Economics, Political Science or History but here the talk is about eliminating the democratic things,” Kharge said.

Kharge emphasized that all must adhere to the Constitution and its Preamble.

“Merely pointing fingers at each other won’t help. The Jan Sangh had once aimed to structure the Constitution based on the laws of Manusmriti. This was the intent of the RSS. Those who despise the tricolor, the Ashoka Chakra, and the Constitution are now lecturing us. On the day the Constitution was implemented, these people burned effigies of Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, and Jawaharlal Nehru at Ramlila Maidan. They insult the Nehru-Gandhi family without shame,” he said.

“In 1949, RSS leaders opposed the Constitution of India because it was not based on Manusmriti… Neither did they accept the Constitution nor the tricolour. On 26 January 2002, for the first time, the tricolour was hoisted at the RSS headquarters under compulsion. Because there was a court order,” he added.

He recalled that in 1931, during the Karachi Congress session presided over by Sardar Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru proposed a resolution on fundamental rights and economic policies, which was passed.

“The Constitution didn’t emerge out of nowhere but was shaped by pivotal movements, the freedom struggle, and even earlier events. Nehru made the demand for a Constituent Assembly a central issue in the 1937 elections. These people neither respect Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, nor Ambedkar.,” Kharge added.

The LoP also mentioned that that in 1949, RSS leaders opposed the Indian Constitution because it wasn’t based on Manusmriti.

“Even today, the spirit of Manusmriti remains ingrained in them, and they blame us instead. They neither respected the tricolor nor the Constitution, which is why it took a court order on January 26, 2002, to compel the RSS headquarters to hoist the national flag,” he said.

Mallikarjun Kharge also asserted that the Constitution empowers the poor and serves as a moral guide for governance.

“It leaves no room for discrimination based on caste, creed, gender, or economic status. Yet, threats to the Constitution persist. For the sake of future generations, we must preserve and protect it. We need to remain vigilant because their intentions are unpredictable and can change at any time,” he said.

Further, he praised former PM Indira Gandhi over 1971 war and also called on the Centre to take steps to protect the minorities in Bangladesh.

“The 1971 war, in which our brave leader Indira Gandhi broke Pakistan into two and captured 1 lakh Pakistani soldiers. Known as the “Iron Lady,” she showed that anyone who threatened us would face severe consequences. Considering the current situation in Bangladesh, the government should open its eyes and take steps to protect the minorities,” Kharge said.

Taking part in the debate, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Puri attacked the Congress over anti-Sikh violence in 1984. He said he cannot think of any occasion in his public life which could even remotely rival the solemnity and the honour of being asked to speak during the discussion on the Glorious Journey of 75 years of Indian Constitution in the Rajya Sabha

“I was two years and two months old when the Constitution was adopted by the Constituent Assembly, and have been a witness to its journey so far which has been characterised by moments of triumphs and disappointments – moments when the leadership of the day, particularly during the govt led by Prime MInister Narendra Modi rose to the demands of the Constitution, and moments when leaders of the past went against letter and spirit of the document that drew upon our history, civilisation, culture, and experience of 7,000 years, ensuring that it was not overpowered by a mindset borne out of 190 years of colonial rule,” he said.

“Some in our midst have added voice to the inculcate notion that democracy was imported to India in 1947. This misses the point entirely – India has had democratic traditions from all the way back to the 6th century BC in places such as Vaishali which was the capital of the Republic of Vajji. Ours is the oldest democracy, the mother of democracies. It pre-dated the Westphalian order by a very long period which is why we proved many prophets of doom wrong,” he added.

Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that India got independence along with around 30-40 countries. He said except for India, hardly any other country has been able to save democracy.

“The trio of Gandhi, Nehru and Patel must have done some work which helped the country strengthened our democracy,” he said.

Targeting BJP, Congress member Randeep Singh Surjewala said that Dr Ambedkar had cautioned against “bhakti” in politics and alleged that they have seen how “institutions have been destroyed due to andhbakti” in the last 10 years.

BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi said that India has always been democratic since time immemorial.

He also attacked the Congress and said the issue of PoK was not solved despite the victory scored by India in the 1971 war with Pakistan. He said that India released about 90,000 Pakistan soldiers who surrendered and alleged that the Indira Gandhi government could not secure the release of 54 Indian prisoners of war.

The Lok Sabha took up discussion on the supplementary votes for grants for 2024-25 with party leader KC Venugopal accusing the Finance Ministry of not acting on allegations against the SEBI chairperson.

He alleged that the government’s “inaction” has tarnished its credibility and “jeopardised” the integrity of India’s financial governance framework.
He called for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into allegations concerning SEBI chairperson.

“Inaction undermines the government’s claim of transparency and commitment to investor confidence,” Venugopal said. He demanded that the Finance Minister clarify her position on the issue.

In his remarks, Congress leader Manish Tewari expressed solidarity with the agitating farmers struggling for their “legitimate demands”.

“Why is the Government not talking to them or allowing them to come to Delhi?” he asked.

He said the common man is living under the constant burden of price rise.

“Where is the 5 trillion dollar economy the Centre keeps talking about when the common people are finding it difficult to run their households?” he asked.

Earlier, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi urged the Union government to raise its voice against the “atrocities” committed against minorities in Bangladesh.

“The first issue I want to discuss is that this government should raise its voice against the atrocities committed against the Hindu and Christian minorities in Bangladesh,” Priyanka Gandhi said.

On Vijay Divas, she paid tribute to soldiers who fought in the 1971 war and highlighted the leadership role of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the war.

“Today is Vijay Diwas. First of all, I want to salute the brave soldiers who fought for us in the war of 1971. Whatever was happening in Bangladesh, no one was listening to the voice of the people of Bangladesh, our Bengali brothers and sisters. Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister at that time; I want to salute her. She showed courage in the most difficult situations and showed such leadership that made the country victorious,” Priyanka Gandhi stated.

She further raised the alleged removal of the ‘iconic 1971 surrender painting’ from the Army Headquarters in New Delhi.

“The second issue is that today, a picture has been taken down from the headquarters of the Army in which the Pakistani Army is surrendering in front of the Indian Army,” she added.

Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat later responded to the issue and said the painting has been relocated to the Manekshaw Centre in Delhi Cantonment and more people can see it. He said the matter should not be politicised. (ANI)