New Delhi: Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader JP Nadda on Tuesday attacked the Congress party over the Emergency and Article 370.
Leading the debate on the second day of the two-debate series on 75 years of the Constitution, Nadda said that the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency not because there was any danger to the country but because there was danger to the Chair (Prime Ministership).
“Why was Emergency declared? Was the country in danger? No. It was the Chair (Prime Ministership of Indira Gandhi) that was in danger,” the BJP leader said.
Talking about the Emergency days, Nadda said that he was an Intermediate student in Patna and was arrested twice from the class. He also took a dig at RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, saying that he named his daughter Misa after the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the Emergency but was today part of the Congress party-led alliance.
Nadda also questioned the then government’s decision to add the words “Secular” and “Socialist” in the Constitution.
“You (Congress) used the word “Socialist” to portray yourself as progressive and “Secular to appease the Muslims,” he said.
The senior BJP leader also launched a scathing attack on Congress for the 42nd amendment to the Constitution.
“You (Congress) brought the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act 1976. It had such a far-reaching effect that it was almost rewriting the Constitution. The amendment prevented the judiciary from calling into question any Constitutional amendment on any ground,” he said.
Nadda took the Congress head-on for incorporating Article 370, which provided special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
“What was the impact of Article 370?” As many as 106 laws passed by the Parliament of India were not applicable in the state of Jammu & Kashmir,” he said.
The BJP leader congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his efforts to make Jammu and Kashmir ‘part and parcel’ of India by abrogating Article 370.
Nadda said that Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (one of the founding members of Jansangh) made sacrifices for the country and was against special provisions in the Constitution for Jammu & Kashmir.
“Shyama Prasad Mukherjee said that two symbols, two constitutions, and two heads will not work in one country and made sacrifices for it. He breathed his last under suspicious circumstances in Srinagar jail. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee’s mother wrote a letter and said that his mysterious death should be investigated, but her voice was suppressed,” Nadda said.
