Rajnath leads govt charge on Day 1 of debate

Defence minister kicks off Constitution debate in Lower House with a sharp attack on Cong, even as Oppn leaders blame BJP for stoking unrest and attempting to dent India's 'armour'

- HT Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Constitution is not the product of a "particular party", Union defence minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday, asserting that the document was neither a gift of colonial rule nor a compilation of good things borrowed from the constitutions of Western countries, but an expression of the country's "civilisational values".

Speaking in the Lok Sabha to open the debate marking 75 years of the Constitution, Singh took a sharp dig at the Congress and said Opposition leaders were roaming around with copies of the Constitution in their pockets.

"Today many leaders of the Opposition roam around with the copies of the Constitution in their pockets. Inhone bachpan se yahi dekha hai (this is what they have learnt from their childhood)... For generations they have seen their family members keep the Constitution in their pockets," Singh said.

He was taking a potshot at Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, and other Congress leaders carrying copies of the Constitution while on campaign trails.

Attacking the Congress for disrespecting the Constitution, he said the 41st Constitutional Amendment Bill was introduced in 1976, the purpose of which was to provide immunity from criminal prosecution to the Prime Minister, governors and the President for all acts done before assuming office and during their tenure.

"The 38th Constitutional Amendment tried to make the decision to impose emergency 'non-justiciable'. The Election Law Amendment Bill was brought, with the sole objective of giving immunity to all those electoral malpractices that challenged the election of Mrs Indira Gandhi," he said.

The Union minister said the Constitution was the result of nearly three years of rigorous debate and deliberation and was not merely a legal document but a reflection of the aspirations of the people, and also a means to fulfil them.