FairPoint: Rahul’s rhetoric falls flat as PM Modi steals spotlight

New Delhi: The Congress-led Opposition may have thought that it could corner the BJP-led Central government on its pet topic of ‘Save the Constitution’ during the two-day discussion in Lok Sabha, but it was not to be so as Prime Minister Narendra Modi stole the show in the end.

The two-day discussion was a classic case of ping-pong with two sides trying to strike at each other with full weighty voices and acidic hues. Delving into history, raking up anecdotes, making poetic references, sledging a few and glorifying some, the session witnessed all shades.

While the Opposition was aggressively trying to portray the government and BJP as being anti-Constitution, the ruling dispensation was equally combative, dismissing allegations, destroying myths and flagging facts.

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s ‘pocket Constitution’ politics failed to impress as also his speech which totally lacked substance. He goofed up more this time and his ‘angry’ antics came out as annoying. Saying that "tapasya" is meant to “generate heat in the body” during his speech drew peals of laughter from the MPs. His reference to Eklavya, an archer in Mahabharat, as a boy aged six or seven years, and saying that Dronacharya cut off his thumb were also ridiculed.

In his speech, the Congress leader launched a critique of the BJP-led government by drawing a contrast between the Constitution and the Manusmriti, invoking the writings of V. D. Savarkar.

However, BJP MP Anurag Thakur, who spoke soon after Rahul Gandhi finished his speech, questioned his knowledge of the pocket Constitution that he likes to flaunt often. Thakur, holding up a copy of the book, asked the Congress leader whether he had actually read it. "Those who wave the copy of the Constitution, don't even know how many pages are there in the Indian constitution.” Thakur cited and also read senior Supreme Court advocate Gopal Shankar Narayan's foreword in the book which said that the Constitution was not influenced by "Nehruvian thinking."

Thakur also replied to Rahul Gandhi's 'Eklavya ka angootha' jibe, saying, "Ye jo angootha kaatne ki baat karte hai inhone Sikhon ke gale katne ka kaam kiya tha (It is during the Congress rule that the throats of Sikhs were cut).”

Then there was senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad who recalled the horrors of the Emergency and cited his personal experience. He also took a jibe at Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav saying that his father Mulayam Singh also suffered. Prasad also showed a copy of the original Constitution which had pictures of Lord Ram, Lord Hanuman, Lord Nataraj, a scene from Mahabharat, and Mughal emperor Akbar, but not of Babar and Aurangzeb. He said that hypothetically, if the Constitution was framed today, the Opposition would have protested the insertion of such pictures.

Almost all the speakers from the Opposition were highly critical of BJP and accused it of trying to change the Constitution. DMK leader A. Raja claimed that the ruling party would have changed the Constitution had the words "secular" and "socialist" not been added to the Preamble of the document during the Emergency. He also dared the BJP to spell out the contribution of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Hindu Mahasabha to the making of the Constitution.

Almost all the Muslim MPs from the Opposition accused the government of discrimination and creating an atmosphere of terror. They cited mob lynching cases, the recent Sambhal violence and the Waqf Board row.

On the first day of the discussion (December 13), Priyanka Gandhi Vadra made her debut speech in the House and said that the BJP would’ve changed the Constitution had it not been for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. She said that the “Constitution is a protective shield of justice, unity and freedom of expression.”

Two full days of discussion saw the culmination in PM Modi’s speech which presented “facts about the Nehru-Gandhi family” and “how they left no stone unturned to strike blows to the Constitution.”

The PM said that the amendments introduced by his government were not meant to tighten their grip on power, unlike Congress. He said that the Nehru-Gandhi family had “made a habit” of amending India’s Constitution as it suited their interests, starting with the country’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru.

The 106-minute speech was the high point of the two-day exercise. He started with the unveiling of some lesser-known facts -- the First Constitutional Amendment Bill of 1951 was introduced by Nehru, which was opposed by many, was about the Right to Freedom of Expression which was attacked. He said that Nehru’s daughter Indira Gandhi took this forward with her amendments and imposition of the Emergency when she was in power. The Congress, he said, amended the Constitution 75 times in six decades.

While the Opposition leaders accused the BJP-led government of deliberately ignoring the diversity, PM Modi highlighted Ambedkar’s focus on strengthening the nation's unity. Saying that his government was only following Ambedkar’s dream, he cited all the 'One Nation' initiatives which have been brought in to strengthen the unity of the country.

PM Modi ended his speech in his signature style, laying down 11 duties and pledges for citizens, including zero tolerance for corruption and an end to the dynastic system, to achieve a Developed India by 2047.