Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, responded to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s accusations against the Congress, asserting that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had written a letter to Jawaharlal Nehru, emphasising that constitutional amendments were the only way to address urgent issues.
During a Rajya Sabha debate on the Constitution, Kharge stated: “On July 3, 1950, Sardar Patel wrote to Nehru, implying that constitutional reforms were the only way to address pressing problems.
In the letter, Patel had stated, “As you say, we have gotten ourselves into so many legal and constitutional problems that we have no idea how to get out of them. My own feeling is that very soon we shall have to sit down and consider Constitutional Amendment.”
He criticised the BJP, saying, “Even Sardar Patel’s contributions have been disrespected by distorting facts.”
He said that no one has the right to insult notables such as Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru. “Great leaders like Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel contributed immensely to the nation’s independence. We have no right to criticise them. But the Prime Minister has attacked the credibility of not just Nehru, Patel and others, but even his own leader Shyama Prasad Mukherjee,” he said.
“He talks about people he was unaware of or met. He has been so blinded by his hate of Nehru that he has questioned the Provisional Parliament, the Constituent Assembly and the Interim Government. He should at least be aware of when he is attacking Nehru and when he is criticising his own leader,” Kharge remarked.
The LoP noted that PM Modi even said that Nehru introduced a constitutional amendment during a period without an elected government, although the Provisional Parliament—which was made up of members of the Constituent Assembly itself—passed the first amendment.
Kharge further pointed out that India, due to the Congress and the Constitution, gave everyone the right to vote while many other nations did not and women were excluded from the voting process.
“India became the only nation where, from the moment the Constitution was implemented, people from all sections of society were given this right. Isn’t this the contribution of Nehru and Ambedkar? You may not even realise how much pain and sacrifice they endured for the country. Those who did not fight for the nation’s independence and Constitution cannot truly understand their importance,” he asserted.
“The Prime Minister accuses us of making empty promises. But in reality, who is the biggest liar? People are still waiting for the 15 lakh rupees that were promised. Was the promise of two crore jobs false or true? This is outright deception. These people who make hollow promises are misleading the nation. In these 11 years, name one thing that has strengthened our democracy or Constitution,” he attacked PM Modi.
Kharge further underlined that the poor in our nation would have died if the Food Security Act, MGNREGA, land reforms or bank nationalisation had not been implemented.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a vicious attack on former Congress leaders Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi earlier today, when she opened the upper house’s debate on the constitution.
She claimed that the constitutional amendments they introduced were not meant to strengthen democracy but rather to protect those in power.
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