Congress will never be able to erase taint of Emergency: PM’s big attack
Prime Minister Narendra Modi invoked the Emergency period to attack the Congress.
And the Gandhi family, saying the party strangled democracy by turning the country into a “jailhouse”. Participating in the special discussion on the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution, PM Modi said the Congress would never be able to wipe off the taint of the Emergency, a two-year period during which various civil liberties were curtailed.
“The Constitution was torn apart when it was completing 25 years. The Emergency was imposed in 1975, all constitutional rights were snatched, and the country was turned into a jail. All the rights of the citizens were snatched and there was a clampdown on the media. The Congress will never be able to clear this stain,” PM Modi said amid sloganeering from the opposition MPs.
PM MODI ATTACKS NEHRU, INDIRA GANDHI
In a veiled dig at the Gandhis, PM Modi said “one family” assaulted the Constitution. He also targeted former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, saying the Congress leader wrote to chief ministers that if the Constitution came in the way, it should be changed.
“Seeds sown by Jawaharlal Nehru in changing the Constitution was followed up by Indira Gandhi. Having tasted blood, Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency by misusing the Constitution. Indira Gandhi clipped the wings of courts through Constitutional amendments to capture the judiciary,” PM Modi asserted.
The Prime Minister also accused the Congress of altering the Constitution 75 times in 60 years during its tenure.
“One family of the Congress did not leave a stone unturned to attack the Constitution. The Congress was so bloodthirsty that it kept bleeding the soul of the Constitution… the Constitution was changed 75 times in six decades,” he said.
The remark is being seen as a counter to the Congress’s narrative that the BJP was trampling on Constitutional institutions and would make drastic changes to the Constitution. The Constitution narrative was at the front and centre of the Congress’s Lok Sabha campaign, helping it in preventing the BJP gaining a majority on its own.
PM MODI’S BIG ‘UNITED INDIA’ PITCH IN PARLIAMENT
Continuing with his “unity” pitch, the Prime Minister began his speech by stressing that India’s unity was the need of the hour. “Our priority is the unity of India. Our government removed Article 370 to make India united,” PM Modi said.
PM Modi further said that the GST played a key role in ensuring “economic unity” for India, while one nation, one ration card “empowered the poor”. “We ensured one nation, one health card… The Ayushman card took care of the health priorities of the poor,” he said.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the ‘One Nation One Grid’ initiative, which he said ensured that there was uninterrupted power supply in all corners of India.
“Several times, there was power in one part of the country and pitch dark in the other part. During the previous government, we saw India being defamed before the world through headlines,” he said.
“That’s why, with the mantra of unity and upholding the sense of the Constitution, we launched the One Nation One Grid to ensure that there is uninterrupted power supply in all corners of India,” he added.