'Some people only carry Constitution in their pockets': Rajnath Singh takes veiled jibe at Rahul Gandhi, mentions Savarkar

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday took a veiled jibe at Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi during the Constitution debate in the Parliament. Without naming the LoP in Lok Sabha, Singh said that some people only carry the Constitution in their pockets. 

The defence minister was speaking in the Lok Sabha during a discussion on the 75-year journey of the Constitution. He added that for years, these people have worked to tarnish the Constitution's image and make changes to it illegally.

"Today, many opposition leaders roam around with a copy of the Constitution in their pockets. They have learnt this since childhood. They have seen the Constitution being kept in their pockets for generations in their families," he said. 

He mentioned that the former PMs from the Congress including Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh brought 17, 28, 10 and 7 Constitutional amendments, respectively. 

Singh also emphasised that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on the other hand, bows down to the Constitution. He also said that the Narendra Modi-led NDA government is working in accordance with the 'Dharma' as enshrined in the Constitution of India.

Furthermore, the senior BJP leader accused the Opposition of insulting the Constitution on multiple occasions. Without naming the Congress, he accused the grand old party of always attempting to appropriate and hijack the framing of the Constitution. 

Not just this, Singh accused the Congress of disrespecting the Constitution on various occasions such as seeking committed judiciary and institutions.He added that the Constitution talked about religious freedom, while adding it was specified that the country will not have a religion and will remain secular. 

"This was stated by those who were dubbed communal by the people of the Congress," he said. Further sharpening his attack on the Congress, Singh also raked up Veer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

He said that the ideas of freedom fighters who were not a part of the Constituent Assembly such as Savarkar and Bhagat Singh also strengthened the Constitution. 

"We must also remember those who were not part of the the Constituent Assembly but their ideas are part of it and they played an important role. We must remember Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bhagat Singh, Veer Savarkar and several other such icons whose ideas strengthened the Constitution."

Not only Savarkar, Rajnath Singh also said that the grand old party, which accuses the BJP of insulting the Constitution, throttled the people's voices in 1975 when Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency. 

(With agency inputs)