Constitution debate: But for Lok Sabha results, govt would have changed Constitution, says Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

Pic/PTI

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday said had it not been for the Lok Sabha election results, in which the BJP scraped through to victory, the government would have started work on changing the Constitution, reported news agency PTI.

Participating in a debate on the Constitution in the Lok Sabha, she said the Constitution was a protective shield of justice, unity and freedom of expression but the government made every effort to break it during the past 10 years.

"This government is working to weaken the reservation policy through lateral entry and privatisation. Had the Lok Sabha election results not come as they have, the government would have started the work on changing the Constitution," Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, reported PTI.

"The truth is that they are chanting 'Constitution' because they realised that the people of this country will keep the Constitution alive," said the Lok Sabha member from Wayanad.

She said the people were demanding a caste-based census and even the ruling party was talking about it because of the election results.

"When the entire opposition called for a caste-based census, they talked about cattle and 'mangalsutra' getting stolen," the Congress MP said in an apparent reference to the Lok Sabha election campaign, reported PTI.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 293 seats in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year. The BJP won 240 seats on its own against the halfway mark of 272.

Rajnath Singh slams Congress, says it tried to destroy Constitution's basic principles

Senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh on Friday said the Congress could never tolerate independence and autonomy of institutions and always tried to destroy the basic principles of the Constitution.

Initiating a debate in the Lok Sabha as the House took up a two-day "Discussion on the Glorious Journey of 75 Years of the Constitution of India", the defence minister said the contribution of several leaders in the making of the Constitution was deliberately ignored and hit out at the Congress, asserting that "a particular party" always tried to "hijack and appropriate" the framing of the Constitution.

"On many occasions, the Congress has disrespected the Constitution and its spirit. It could not tolerate the independence and autonomy of institutions. It always tried to destroy the basic principles of the Constitution," he alleged.

"Talk of protection of the Constitution does not seem appropriate coming from it. These days, I see many opposition leaders keep the Constitution in their pockets. Actually, this is what they have learnt from childhood, they have seen their families keep the Constitution in their pockets for generations," he said.

But the BJP always bows before the Constitution and has never played with the independence and autonomy of institutions, Singh asserted.

(With inputs from PTI)