Nehru amended Constitution to curb freedom of expression, Gandhi family ‘repeatedly wounded’ it: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Dec 14 accused Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru - India's first Prime Minister of "changing the Constitution” through an Ordinance to curb the freedom of expression, and said he dealt a grave insult to Constitution makers by doing so.

"The Constitution was amended 75 times in six decades. The seeds of this habit were sown by the first Prime Minister, and nurtured by Indira Gandhi," Modi said in the Lok Sabha during a discussion on the 'Glorious Journey of 75 Years of the Constitution of India'.

“There was no mandate by the people. In 1951, when there wasn't an elected government, he amended the Constitution through an Ordinance. Right to Freedom of Expression was attacked...This was an insult to Constitution makers.” he added.

Slamming the Nehru-Gandhi family, Modi said Nehru amended the country's guiding document to curb freedom of expression and his daughter Indira Gandhi imposed an Emergency to defy a Supreme Court judgment that annulled her election as a Member of Parliament.

"This family challenged the Constitution at every level," he said, adding that he was singling out the family as its members were in power for 55 years.

Modi said the family, having "tasted blood", repeatedly wounded the Constitution, citing several decisions of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi when they held the office of the Prime Minister.

“This country didn't have an elected government from 1947 to 1952. A temporary system, a selected government was in place. Elections were not held. An interim government was in place until the elections. Before 1952, the Rajya Sabha was also not formed. There were no elections in states as well,” he said.

Modi said as soon as Nehru saw an opportunity, he dealt a blow to Right to Express.

“This was a grave insult to Constitution makers. What could not be facilitated in the Constituent Assembly, he facilitated through the back door, and that too when he was not the PM of an elected government. He sinned,” Modi said.

“Pandit Nehru had his constitution. He did not listen to his senior colleagues,” the BJP X handle quoted PM Modi as saying.

“Congress did not follow its own constitution, made Nehru the leader when state units had supported Sardar Patel,” Modi added.

Their next generation is also into the same game, Modi said taking a dig at the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, and his MP sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

He said leaders like him and many others who came from ordinary families could never have reached where they did but for the strength of the Constitution, as he underlined his long commitment to its values.

Modi slams Congress on Emergency

He also attacked Congress during the Emergency, proclaimed during the rule of Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi in 1975.

“When the country was witnessing 25 years of Constitution, at the same time Constitution in our country was razed. Emergency was imposed, democratic systems were finished, country was turned into a prison, citizens's rights were looted, press freedom was locked up,” he said.

Earlier, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju initiated the debate on the Constitution on its second day and said India not only provides legal protection to minorities but also has provisions for affirmative action.

In an apparent jibe at the Opposition, Rijiju said, “While India has given equal voting rights to all, some claim that minorities have no rights in the country.”

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Dec 13, had initiated the special debate on the Constitution, slamming the Congress party for trying to ‘hijack and appropriate’ the document.