After boycotting the Constitution Day celebrations in the parliament, Congress leader Anand Sharma tendered an abysmal explanation defending his party’s move of not participating in the program. Slamming BJP, Sharma said that the opposition was not allowed to voice their concerns in the program initiated by the central government.
Congress had earlier launched demonstrations and protests across the country in the view of the recent political developments in the state of Maharashtra. Congress has levelled serious allegations against the BJP, accusing it of undermining the democratic norms enshrined in the constitution.
Speaking to the media, Sharma said, “It is the Modi government which commenced the ‘Constitution Day’. But what kind of democracy is this where the opposition voices are gagged and only President, Vice-President, Prime Minister and Speaker of Lok Sabha have a voice? This is against the Constitution. The Constitution does not say that only government programs should be conducted.”
Sharma further contended that the Constitution entails the involvement of the Opposition and other political parties as a part of the legislative process along with the government. “How can it be termed as Parliamentary democracy if the opposition is left out from the government programs,” Sharma said.
The ‘Constitution Day’ that was celebrated today witnessed boycott from several senior Congress leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, Ghulam Nabi Azad, AK Antony and others. Congress leaders hit out on the streets outside the Parliament premises in front of the Ambedkar statue to mark their protest against the political developments by the BJP in Maharashtra.
Narendra Modi-led BJP government initiated the celebration of the ‘Constitution Day’ to commemorate the drafting of the Indian Constitution which happened on November 26, 1949. The Constitution of India was adopted by the Union of India on January 26, 1950. Dr BR Ambedkar was the Chairman of the Constitution drafting committee is also hailed as the chief architect of the Indian Constitution. The Indian Constitution composed by a Constituent Assembly and not a Parliamentary Assembly is the longest written constitution in the world.