New Delhi: Union home minister Amit Shah launched a scathing attack on the Opposition Congress in the Rajya Sabha, saying the party treated the Constitution as the “private fiefdom” of one family and “played fraud” with Parliament. Shah also accused the Gandhi-Nehru family of undermining the Constitution’s integrity.
Concluding a two-day debate on the “Glorious Journey of 75 Years of the Constitution of India”, Shah tore into the Congress for its appeasement politics and claimed that the party wants to breach the 50 per cent quota limit to provide reservations to Muslims.
The Union home minister cited many amendments made to the Constitution by the Congress, claiming the party did so for its own benefit. “The first amendment was to curtail the freedom of expression by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The 24th Amendment was brought by his daughter (former PM) Indira Gandhi on November 24, 1971. The Parliament was given the right to reduce the fundamental rights of the citizens,” he said.
Shah attacked the Congress for being a “sore loser” as it blamed EVMs for its defeat in the Assembly polls in Maharashtra and Haryana, saying the party should give up its canard against EVMs and shed its appeasement and dynastic politics as well as corruption to return to power.
“In the last 75 years, the Congress played fraud in the name of the Constitution... They (Nehru-Gandhi family) considered not just the party as their private property but also treated the Constitution as their private fiefdom,” Shah alleged, referring to the insertion of Article 35A without parliamentary assent.
Criticising the Congress for bringing in reservations on the basis of religion in two states ruled by it, Shah termed it “unconstitutional”.
“The Congress wants to give reservations to Muslims by increasing the quota limit beyond 50 per cent. Even if the BJP has just one MP, it will not allow reservations on the basis of religion," said the Union home minister. He also asked the Congress if it supported the Muslim personal law and alleged that the party never worked for the welfare of the backward classes.
Shah asserted that the BJP has already brought in a common civil code (Uniform Civil Code) in Uttarakhand and will implement it in all states.
“It is clearly stated in the Constitution that no reservations will be based on religion... They (the Congress) do not want any welfare of OBCs, they want to give reservations to Muslims by increasing the limit of 50 per cent. But today, once again I say with responsibility in this House that as long as the BJP has even one MP, we will not allow reservation on the basis of religion,” the home minister asserted.
He recalled that on August 10, 1975 the Allahabad high court had declared Indira Gandhi’s election null and void, leading to her imposition of the Emergency. “She also amended the Constitution to prevent judicial inquiry into a Prime Minister’s actions. I urge my Communist brothers to introspect about the company they keep,” Shah said.
The Union home minister also accused the Congress of being anti-reservations. He said that in 1955, the Kaka Kalelkar Commission was formed to provide reservations to OBCs, but the report was nowhere to be found.
“Had the recommendations of the Kaka Kalelkar Commission been accepted, the Mandal Commission would not have been formed. In 1980, the recommendations of the Mandal Commission came out, but it was not implemented. It was implemented when the Congress was voted out in 1990,” Shah said. He also alleged that the Congress amended the Constitution to remain in power and for its own benefit.
