(Clockwise from left) PM Modi outside Parliament; Rahul Gandhi; and the leader of the INDIA bloc presented with a copy of the Constitution. (PTI)
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi invoked the Emergency and attacked the Constitution, the opposition leader vowed to hold a copy of the Constitution.
The Constitutional debate, the key to the Lok Sabha campaign of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Party (NDA) and India’s opposition bloc National Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), returned on the first day of the Parliament session on Monday.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi invoked the Emergency and attacked the Constitution, the opposition leader vowed to hold a copy of the Constitution.
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Ahead of the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha, PM Modi took a swipe at the Congress on the Emergency, calling it a “black spot”.
Rahul Gandhi said he will not allow the Constitution to be “under attack” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
It’s June 25. Those who are devoted to the dignity of the constitution of this country, those who are devoted to the democratic traditions of India, is a day that does not forget June. On June 25, the black mark on India’s democracy will be 50 years old. The new generation of India will never forget that… pic.twitter.com/4tWodeoZ3I
— BJP (@BJP4India) June 24, 2024
WHAT ABOUT MODI?
Modi said that “Emergency fell on June 25 and is said to be a black spot in the history of the Indian parliament when the Constitution was thrown out and the country turned into a prison”.
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, a strong Congress leader, had imposed Emergency in 1975, suspended civil liberties, jailed opposition leaders and dissidents and imposed press censorship.
#WATCH | Delhi: When asked about the Congress and other opposition parties bringing a copy of the Constitution to Parliament today, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said, “… let’s… pic.twitter.com/1d8inFNxEp— ANI (@ANI) June 24, 2024
WHAT ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
Buoyed by a strong showing in the Lok Sabha polls where the NDA secured a majority, but with reduced numbers, MPs from the opposition INDIA bloc gathered at the Parliament Complex on Monday in a show of strength.
Opposition leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, leader Rahul Gandhi, Trinamool Congress Sudip Bandyopadhyay, DMK’s TR Baalu, and others, gathered at the spot where Gandhi’s statue once stood in the Parliament Complex. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi also joined the MPs.
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Holding a copy of the Constitution in his hand, he raised slogans such as ‘Long live the Constitution’, ‘We will save the Constitution’, ‘Save our democracy’. “This (BJP’s attack on the Constitution) is not acceptable to us and that is why we hold the Constitution and take oath. Our message reaches the people and no power can touch the Constitution of India and we will protect it,” said Rahul Gandhi.
Congress leader KC Venugopal said that INDIA bloc leaders entered the 18th Lok Sabha with the blessings of Mahatma Gandhi.
The statue of Gandhi, which was a popular protest site for MPs, was recently shifted along with 14 other statues housed in the complex to a new place named Prerna Sthal.
#WATCH | Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party MP KC Venugopal had a brief conversation with Akhilesh Yadav, Dimple Yadav and other Samajwadi Party MPs who were demonstrating at Samvidhan Sadan with a copy of… pic.twitter.com/jjrrRigmFH— ANI (@ANI) June 24, 2024
LS POLL CAMPAIGN
In the LS poll campaign, Rahul Gandhi said that this is an election to save democracy, reservation, the Constitution and the rights of the poor. He said that the BJP, if it wins 400+ seats, according to its slogan, will destroy the Constitution and the rights of the poor. Rejecting the claim, the PM had spoken about how Muslims were given reservation in Karnataka against the ethos of the Constitution while robbing the deserving. He said that he is planning to give quota for Dalits, SC, ST, and OBC to Muslims in the name of religion.
Some opposition parties claim that the mandate of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is against the ruling BJP, even though it could form the government with the support of other parties. The INDIA bloc also said that the results showed that the people supported the opposition parties to “save the Constitution”.