Constitution debate: Rajnath Singh slams Congress, says it tried to destroy Constitution's basic principles

Rajnath Singh. Pic/PTI

Senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh on Friday said the Congress could never tolerate independence and autonomy of institutions and always tried to destroy the basic principles of the Constitution, reported news agency PTI.

Initiating a Constitution debate in the Lok Sabha as the House took up a two-day "Discussion on the Glorious Journey of 75 Years of the Constitution of India", the defence minister said the contribution of several leaders in the making of the Constitution was deliberately ignored and hit out at the Congress, asserting that "a particular party" always tried to "hijack and appropriate" the framing of the Constitution, reported PTI.

"On many occasions, the Congress has disrespected the Constitution and its spirit. It could not tolerate the independence and autonomy of institutions. It always tried to destroy the basic principles of the Constitution," he alleged, reported PTI.

"Talk of protection of the Constitution does not seem appropriate coming from it. 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," he said during the Constitution debate, reported PTI.

But the BJP always bows before the Constitution and has never played with the independence and autonomy of institutions, Singh asserted.

He pointed out that the Constitution talked about religious freedom and it had been specified that the state would not have a religion but be secular.

"This was stated by those who were dubbed communal by people of the Congress," he said, reported PTI.

The Constitution is an expression of the general will of the people, Singh said.

"Our Constitution touches upon social, economic, political, cultural life and shows the way for nation building. It is a roadmap for giving India its place on the world stage... It is the outcome of a series of historical events," he said, reported PTI.

"We must also remember those who were not part of the Constituent Assembly but their ideas are part of it (Constitution) and they played an important role. We must remember Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bhagat Singh, Veer Savarkar and several other such icons whose ideas strengthened the Constitution," Singh said, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)