Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha speech on Constitution debate: Key quotes

NEW DELHI: Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi during his address on Saturday targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party saying that the saffron party’s “supreme leader” Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was critical of the Indian Constitution. Rahul said that Savarkar had said that there was “nothing Indian about our Constitution.”

The LoP cornered the BJP and said that when it talks about protecting the protecting the Constitution of the country it is “ridiculing Savarkar.”

“The worst thing about the Constitution of India is that there is nothing Indian about it. Manusmriti is that scripture which is most worshippable after Vedas for our Hindu nation and from which our ancient times have become the basis for our culture, customs, thought and practice. This book, for centuries, has codified the spiritual and divine march of our nation. Today, Manusmiriti is law. These are the words of Savarkar,” the Congress leader said.

“I want to ask you (ruling side), do you stand by your leader’s words? Do you support your leader’s words? Because when you speak in Parliament about protecting the Constitution, you are ridiculing Savarkar, you are abusing Savarkar, you are defaming Savarkar,” he added.

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Rahul cited the story of Eklavya and said that just like Dronacharya took Eklavya’s thumb, the saffron party has taken the thumbs of farmers, the backward classes and the youth of the country.

“When you handover Dharavi to Adani, you cut off the thumb of entrepreneurs, small and medium businesses. When you handover India’s ports, airports and defence industry to Adani, you cut off the thumbs of all fair play business of India who work honestly,” he said.

Here are the key quotes from Rahul Gandhi’s speech:

“When we look at this Constitution, we remember this list of people, old different variations of the same idea… and in front us, stand the people who follow very different philosophical tradition. And I want to start my speech by quoting what the supreme leader, not of the BJP, but of the modern interpretation of the ideas of the RSS has to say about the Constitution of India and how he thinks India should be run… ‘The worst thing about the Constitution of India is that there is nothing Indian about it. Manusmriti is that scripture which is most worshipable after Vedas for our Hindu nation, and from which our ancient times, has become the basis of our culture, customs, thought and practice. This book for centuries has codified the spiritual and divine march of our nation. Today, manusmriti is law’. These are the words of Savarkar. He has clearly stated in his writing that there is nothing Indian about our Constitution.”

“I want to ask you (ruling side), do you stand by your leader’s words? Do you support your leader’s words? Because when you speak in Parliament about protecting the Constitution, you are ridiculing Savarkar, you are abusing Savarkar, you are defaming Savarkar.”

“Constitution a document of modern India but it could never have been written without ancient India, her ideas”

“When we open Constitution, we can hear voice, ideas of Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru”

“When you (BJP) speak of protecting Constitution, you are ridiculing Savarkar”

“This is Abhayamudra. Confidence, strength and fearlessness come through skill, through thumb. These people are against this. The manner in which Dronacharya cut off the thumb of Eklavya, you are busy cutting off the thumb of the entire nation…When you handover Dharavi to Adani, you cut off the thumb of entrepreneurs, small and medium businesses. When you handover India’s ports, airports and defence industry to Adani, you cut off the thumbs of all fair play business of India who work honestly.”

“When you implemented Agniveer, you cut off the thumb of the youth. When you have paper leaks – you had 70 paper leaks, you cut off the thumb of the youth of India…Today, you lobbed tear gas shells on farmers outside Delhi, you unleased lathi charge on the farmers. Farmers demand MSP from you. They demand a suitable price. But you facilitate profits to Adani, Ambani and cut off the thumb of farmers. We sav Abhayamudra, we say “daro matt”. You say, “Hum aapka angootha kaat denge.” This is the difference.”

“We will breach the wall of 50% reservation and we will have a Caste Census. You can say whatever you want.”

“The ideology of INDIA Alliance brought the Constitution of the country, together we safeguard the Constitution. Ambedkar ji had said that if there is political equality but no social and economic equality, political equality will be destroyed…Today, it is before everyone. Political equality has ended. All of India’s institutions have been captured. There is no more a social equality. There is no economic equality anymore. That is why, our next step would be Caste Census. We want to show the country that whose thumbs did you chop off. We want to show Dalits, Adivasis, Backwards, farmers, labourers whose thumbs have been chopped off. So, we will have a Caste Census and there will be a new kind of development in India.”

“Constitution mentions the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth…Some days back, youngsters from Sambhal came to see me. 5 innocent people who had done nothing and were just nearby were shot dead. Where is it written in the Constitution?…Wherever you go, you pit one religion against the other. You spread hatred. Where is it written in Constitution that one religion has to be pitted against the other, that a Dalit family has to be locked up and criminals have to be allowed to feely roam around? Where is it written in the Constitution? Show me.”

“We follow Constitution; BJP’s book is Manusmriti”

“I went to Hathras gangrape victim’s house, those who committed the crime roaming free, while her family cannot venture out”

Courtesy : TOI

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