'Brazen assault on Constitution': Sonia Gandhi slams BJP over Waqf Bill
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New Delhi: Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi strongly condemned the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha, calling it a blatant attack on the Constitution. Addressing the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting at the Central Hall, she criticized the BJP-led NDA government for bulldozing the Bill through Parliament and accused it of deliberately fostering societal polarization.
Sonia Gandhi also voiced strong opposition to the One Nation, One Election (ONOE) Bill, describing it as yet another attempt to subvert the Constitution. She further highlighted the delay in implementing the Women’s Reservation Bill, passed by both Houses two years ago, asserting that the government was wilfully ignoring the provision for one-third reservation for women from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes.
Accusing the Modi government of diluting key legislations enacted during the UPA era, she pointed to four landmark laws—Right to Information (RTI), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), Forest Rights Act, and the Land Acquisition Act—claiming they were being weakened by the current regime. She also raised concerns over the National Food Security Act, enacted in 2013, which ensures food security for over 80 crore people, while another 14 crore remain deprived due to the Centre’s failure to conduct the Census.
Sonia Gandhi urged Congress members to expose what she described as the Modi government’s attempt to appropriate UPA-era policies and rebrand them as its own. She accused the Prime Minister of repackaging initiatives undertaken between 2004 and 2014 as personal accomplishments and stressed the need for the party to counter this narrative through effective public outreach.
Slamming the ruling party for targeting Congress-led state governments in Parliament, she urged Congress lawmakers to adopt an equally aggressive and combative stance in highlighting the failures of BJP-ruled states. She emphasized the need for thorough research and pointed interventions to counter the BJP’s attacks, particularly during the Zero Hour.
She also raised concerns over what she called an extraordinary and deliberate effort to silence Opposition voices in Parliament. She alleged that Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was being denied opportunities to speak, while his Rajya Sabha counterpart, Mallikarjun Kharge, was similarly prevented from expressing his views. Describing these actions as shocking, she accused the government of systematically blocking the Opposition from raising critical issues that would hold it accountable.
Sonia Gandhi concluded by warning that the Modi government was dragging the country towards a situation where the Constitution would be reduced to mere words on paper. She urged Congress members to continue their fight against what she described as the government’s attempts to turn India into a surveillance state, emphasizing the party’s commitment to upholding justice and democratic values.
With IANS inputs