EACH YEAR , CONSTITUTION DAY IS observed routinely on November 26 to mark the adoption of the Constitution of India on November 26, 1949, with leaders making solemn speeches and exhortations. This year, too, it was no different with President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the joint session of Parliament to mark the 70th ConstitutionDay.Opposition parties boycotted the function to register their protest against the manner in which the Centre and Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had colluded to install a minority government in the State and thus facilitated horse-trading. So the official function at the Central Hall of Parliament could only be an exercise in symbolism. The Centre, according to reports, has planned a year-long awareness campaign across the country on the constitutional rights of citizens and to make reading of the preamble to the Constitution mandatory for all Central and State government officials.
The political developments in Maharashtra between November 23 and 26, which were triggered by the controversial decision of the Centre to lift President’s Rule in the State, suggested that rather than the people and officials, it is the high-ranking constitutional functionaries in New Delhi and in the States who need to learn the values of the Constitution in order to succeed in achieving its goals.
On November 23, President Ram Nath Kovind issued a Proclamation, saying:
“In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of article 356 of the Constitution, I, Ram Nath Kovind, President of India here by revoke the Proclamation issued by me under the said article on the 12th day of November 2019, in relation to the State of Maharashtra with effect from the 23rd day of November, 2019.”
There was nothing unusual about the wording of the Proclamation, except what it concealed: its timing.
This story is from the December 20, 2019 edition of FRONTLINE.
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This story is from the December 20, 2019 edition of FRONTLINE.
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