Constitution in pockets: Rajnath’s jibe at Congress – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh recalled the suspension of fundamental rights during the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi in 1975 and the supersession of Supreme Court judges who were not aligned with her as he mocked Congress‘s claim to be the defender of the Constitution.
“These days, I see many opposition leaders keep the Constitution in their pockets. Actually, this is what they have learnt from childhood, they have seen their families keep the Constitution in their pockets for generations,” Singh said as he argued that Congress’s recent championing of the Constitution was just optics.
“It does not behove them to speak as defenders of the Constitution,” he added.
The senior minister, widely seen as congenial, did not pull any punches as he accused Congress of appropriating the credit for the making of the Constitution to the exclusion of many others who made valuable contributions, including Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar, Madan Mohan Malviya and legendary revolutionary Bhagat Singh who were not part of the Constituent Assembly.
The minister went on to recall the contribution of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, founder of Bharatiya Jan Sangh, as BJP was known in its original incarnation.
Congress benches found mention of Mookerjee, who is seen as the inspiration of BJP’s allegedly communal and, hence, “unconstitutional” politics, to be audacious and protested. However, Singh pressed on by stressing that Mookerjee was inspired by the “Constitution of Hindustan State”, which was drafted by a group of leaders as a blueprint for the Constitution of independent India and was “marked by its emphasis on the need for the state to be secular and for its emphasis on religious freedom for all”.
“This was being said by those who were termed communal by Congress. Dr Mookerjee was inspired by the document. He wanted a strong Centre and advocated a democratic Constitution. All these things have been concealed. Our Constitution is not the gift of a party, but belongs to the people of India,” he said.
The senior BJP functionary referred to the depiction of Lord Ram, Sita and Hanuman in the original copy of the Constitution where the fundamental rights were discussed. Singling out Congress for allegedly abusing the Constitution on several occasions, he cited multiple examples and said whenever Congress had an opportunity to choose between the Constitution and power, it always favoured power.
BJP, Singh said, always bowed before the Constitution and had never played with the independence and autonomy of institutions.
Referring to Jammu & Kashmir, he said BJP-headed NDA had implemented the Constitution in a state where it was not applicable earlier.
“People there have voted in large numbers and the election was violence-free,” the defence minister said.