Rajya Sabha LIVE | 'Those who burnt copies of Constitution are trying to teach us': Kharge
Opening the debate in the Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's Constitution has stood the test of time in the last 75 years of its existence.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday (December 16) slammed the BJP-RSS, saying those who burnt the copies of the Constitution and the effigies of Babasaheb Ambedkar are “trying to teach us about it”.
Leading the charge from the Opposition benches, Kharge said, “Those people who hate national flag, those who hate our 'Ashok Chakra', those who hate the Constitution... such people are trying to teach us. What is this? When this Constitution was made...these people burn the Constitution. They torched effigies of Babasaheb Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi at Ramleela Maidan (in Delhi) the day the Constitution was adopted.”
He also took a jibe at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, saying, “I have to tell them that I also know how to read. I have studied in municipality school, she (Nirmala Sitharaman) has studied in Jawaharlal Nehru University, it is certain that her English will be good, her Hindi will be good, but the deeds are not good.”
Also read: PM a ‘distorian’ who ‘puts WhatsApp University to shame’: Congress after speech
Raising the issue of the alleged atrocities on the minorities in Bangladesh, Kharge said, “...Our brave leader Indira Gandhi divided Pakistan into two parts and liberated Bangladesh... The pride of this country spread across the world. The chaos that is going on there (in Bangladesh), at least these (BJP) people should open their eyes and try to save the minorities there.”
Earlier, opening the debate in the Rajya Sabha on "75 years of Indian Constitution", Sitharaman said India's Constitution has stood the test of time in the last 75 years of its existence.
Heated debate in Lok Sabha
The debate in the Lok Sabha was initiated on Friday (December 13) by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, followed by speeches by Opposition MPs including Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, and Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, among others.
On Saturday (December 14), Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi spoke at length.
While the opposition parties accused the BJP-led central government of undermining the Constitution, PM Modi accused the Congress party of repeatedly “mutilating” the Constitution.
The Congress on Saturday termed PM Modi’s 11 resolutions he articulated in his speech in the Lok Sabha as “hollow”, and called him a “distorian par excellence who puts WhatsApp University to shame”.
The opposition party also questioned why PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh were not present in the House when Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi spoke during the debate.
Also read: Ready for Constitution debate in Rajya Sabha 'if BJP doesn't disrupt': O'Brien
RS debate in backdrop of no-trust vote against Dhankhar
The debate in the Rajya Sabha will be in the backdrop of a no-trust motion against Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar by Opposition parties which have submitted a notice for it.
According to sources, 10-11 MPs will participate in the debate, and will speak for 3-4 minutes each. They will highlight the essence of ten keywords from the Preamble of the Constitution, speaking on themes like equality, justice, sovereignty, independence, democracy, and socialism.
The Rajya Sabha will hold the debate on December 16 and 17, and PM Modi is expected to reply on Tuesday (December 17).
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Live Updates
- 16 Dec 2024 7:20 PM IST
Cong MPs stage protest in Parliament premises over atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh
Several Congress MPs led by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra staged a protest in the Parliament premises on Monday, demanding justice for Hindus facing atrocities in Bangladesh and the alleged removal of a photo of Pakistan surrendering to India from the Army headquarters.
Priyanka Gandhi said she had given a notice to talk about Vijay Diwas in the Lok Sabha. The Wayanad MP claimed that after initial approval, she was allegedly told that she could not talk on it as the government would.
"Till then, they did not remember and I guess then they gave a chance to Nishikant Dubey who raised the issue and said something. Then I spoke. I was raising only two issues. First, I wanted to pay tributes to all the martyred soldiers and the people who stood by the Army," she told reporters in the Parliament premises.
"I also wanted to remember Indira Gandhi because of her ability to act decisively. Under her leadership, we fought the war and won," she said.
Priyanka Gandhi also raised the issue of atrocities against minorities in Bangladesh. The Congress MP asserted that she wanted to say atrocities were being committed against minorities in Bangladesh. "Our government should raise its voice, speak with the Bangladesh government and ensure their security."
- 16 Dec 2024 7:16 PM IST
Congress lacked courage to act on Article 370: Hardeep Puri in Rajya Sabha
Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday tore into the previous Congress-led governments on Article 370, saying the party abdicated its responsibility to the Constitution with regard to Kashmir as the "temporary" provision was made "de-facto permanent" because it "lacked the courage to act".
Speaking on the 'Glorious Journey of 75 Years of the Constitution of India' in Rajya Sabha, Puri, the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, slammed the Congress in his speech, which also included references to Kashmiri Pandits and the anti-Sikh riots.
Referring to Article 370, Puri said this was the only provision in the Constitution whose drafting Babasaheb Ambedkar did not oversee. When the Constituent Assembly passed Article 370, then numbered 306A, Ambedkar stayed silent.
Even Sardar Patel was shocked at the leeway given to Sheikh Abdullah and his colleagues, he added.
He said it took the "indomitable courage and resolve" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to abrogate this Article of the Constitution which, though "intended to be temporary", was made de facto permanent by appeasement politics", adding that a historic wrong was corrected with the abrogation of Article 370.
- 16 Dec 2024 7:15 PM IST
Opposition accuses govt of undermining federal structure, constitutional bodies
Opposition MPs in Rajya Sabha on Monday accused the government of attacking the federal structure and undermining constitutional bodies while claiming that an Emergency-like situation exists in the country.
Participating in a debate on the 75-year journey of the Constitution, Debashish Samantaray, whose party Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is not a part of either the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) or opposition's Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), alleged that Constitutional watchdogs have been converted into "pet-dogs"."What is the situation today, anyone can be sent to jail, chief ministers were put in jail, denied bail. There is definitely an Emergency in the country, I will say it openly," he said. "The so-called Constitutional watchdogs have become pet dogs, anyone can be behind bars without justification," he said.
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale alleged that justice is being denied to people under the NDA government and accused it of destroying the Constitution."Injustice has been the hallmark of the Modi government. How will PM Modi defend his record on justice to the 21 lakh MGNREGS workers in Bengal who have worked but haven't been paid in three years because the Modi government has withheld Bengal's dues as his party lost elections," Gokhale said.
"The rapists of Bilkis Bano were released by this government. Umar Khalid, Khalid Saifi... numerous others are in jail for speaking against the government... The 750 farmers who died outside the borders of Delhi... People of Manipur who have seen homes burn and family die..., " he said.
DMK's Tiruchi Siva accused the Union government of undermining the federal structure of the country.
He said while there is no explicit term for federalism in the Preamble of the Constitution, the first line says "Bharat, that is India, is a union of states". He said the devolution of funds to Tamil Nadu by the Union government has been declining.
"For every One Rupee that we contribute, we get only 0.29 rupee. Tamil Nadu is performing very well, but we are being victimised by the Union government," he said. Siva also expressed concern over the condition of religious as well as lingual minorities.
- 16 Dec 2024 3:46 PM IST
Photo of Pakistan surrendering before India removed from Army HQ: Priyanka Gandhi in LS
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday claimed in Lok Saba that a photograph of Pakistan surrendering before India has been removed from the Army headquarters.
In her Zero Hour reference, Priyanka Gandhi said the picture has been removed on Monday, which also happens to be Vijay Diwas.
"Today, that picture has been removed from the Army headquarters where the Pakistan Army is surrendering before the Indian Army," she said.
The Wayanad MP remembered the role of soldiers and martyrs who fought the war of 1971 between India and Pakistan.
Vijay Diwas is celebrated every year on December 16 to commemorate India's victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war. The war also resulted in the liberation of Bangladesh.
