Cong amended Constitution to help Gandhis cling to power: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday accused the Congress of repeatedly amending the Constitution to serve the interests of the Gandhi-Nehru family rather than strengthening democracy.

“The Congress brazenly amended the Constitution on multiple occasions, not for any greater objective, but to help the family and dynasty cling to power. These amendments were aimed at consolidating the family’s position, not democracy,” Sitharaman said.

Opening the discussion in the Rajya Sabha on 75 years of the Constitution, Sitharaman cited constitutional amendments brought in to nullify a judgment that set aside election of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi against Raj Narain.

She referred to the 39th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1975, enacted during the Emergency, which added Article 392(A) to the Constitution. This amendment, with retrospective effect, barred courts from challenging the elections of the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister and Lok Sabha Speaker, leaving such disputes to be resolved only by a parliamentary committee. “Imagine amending the Constitution just to save one person’s chair —Indira Gandhi,” Sitharaman remarked.

She also criticised the Rajiv Gandhi-led government for passing the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, which denied Muslim women their right to alimony. She said the law was passed by the Rajiv Gandhi-led government to curtail the affect of the order passed by the Supreme Court in the Shah Bano case and protect Rajiv Gandhi from the wrath of fundamentalist Muslims.

Highlighting other instances, Sitharaman said the Congress extended the term of the Lok Sabha during the Emergency without sufficient justification and pushed through the 42nd Constitutional Amendment. The amendment (that changed the description of India from “sovereign democratic republic” to ‘sovereign, socialist secular democratic republic’) was carried out during the extended term. The entire Opposition was then in jail (barring five MPs in the Lok Sabha), Sitharaman said.

Criticising the Emergency’s draconian measures, Sitharaman said, “I know political leaders who named their children after MISA to remember the black days of the Emergency. Ironically, those leaders now wouldn’t hesitate to form alliances with the Congress.” She was alluding to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Misa Bharti, daughter of Lalu Prasad Yadav.

Sitharaman also cast doubt on Jawaharlal Nehru’s commitment to the Constitution’s fundamental principles, including freedom of speech. She cited the imprisonment of poet Majrooh Sultanpuri and actor Balraj Sahni in 1949. Sultanpuri had recited a poem critical of Nehru at a mill workers’ meeting in Mumbai and was jailed after refusing to apologise.

“The Congress history of curbing free speech goes beyond these examples,” Sitharaman said. She pointed to the ban on Nehru: A Political Biography by Michael Edwards in 1975 and the censorship of film Kissa Kursi Ka, which criticised Indira Gandhi and her son.