Oppn boycotts Constitution Day celebrations over Maha slugfest

NEW DELHI: Seventeen opposition parties staged their biggest show of unity since the Lok Sabha elections at the statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar at the Parliament complex to protest against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the political developments in Maharashtra, while also boycotting Constitution Day celebrations at the joint sitting of two Houses in the nearby Central Hall on Tuesday.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi led the protest that involved leaders from different political parties reading out from the Constitution. Some leaders carried placards that read “Stop Murder of Democracy”, “Save Our Constitution” and “Constitution in Crisis”. Gandhi, surrounded by opposition leaders, read out the Preamble of the Constitution, followed by leaders such as Kanimozhi (DMK), Ram Gopal Yadav (SP) and others. Parties such as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena, Samajwadi Party (SP), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and Communist Party of India (Marxist), among others, took part in the protests.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “It is ironic that on the day India was celebrating its Constitution, the BJP government was busy working to destroy it. The Constitution belongs to every Indian. Let us pledge to uphold its values & defend it...”

The Centre’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit back at the Congress. Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “November 26 is Constitution Day and this day is above political differences. Congress’ absence from Central Hall is an insult to Dr Ambedkar, the father of the Constitution, but this is nothing new. Earlier also the party did the same thing by not giving him Bharat Ratna.”

But Congress’s Anand Sharma said, “...what kind of democracy is this in which only President, Prime Minister, Vice President, and Speaker of Lok Sabha have a voice while the Opposition has no role? .”

Asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailing the Constitution, former prime minister Manmohan Singh said, “Well I think the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The way the central government has behaved in Maharashtra, it is not certain that constitutional norms are safe in the hands of present establishment.”