To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Constitution, the Lok Sabha will begin a two-day debate at noon today. This is presuming that a House split between the BJP and Congress over purported Sonia Gandhi-George Soros ties and the US’s Adani indictment runs smoothly. Rajnath Singh, the defence minister, will start the BJP’s campaign. Speaking will be 12–15 members of the ruling party and its supporters, including former Karnataka Chief Minister and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy, Sena chief Eknath Shinde’s son Shrikant Shinde, former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Manjhi, and LJP member Shambhavi Choudhary.
The final word will go to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will address the discussion and the rebuttals from the opposition on Saturday night. That Rajnath Singh and the Prime Minister will both speak underlines the BJP’s plan – to fire on all guns at its rivals. Due to the emergency declared by former Prime Minister and party mainstay Indira Gandhi, the BJP will try to attack the Congress. That strategy will probably have elements of the party’s intense assault during the June session of Parliament, the first following Mr. Modi’s election to a third consecutive term, albeit with a smaller majority. Six months ago, Mr Modi ripped into his rival, accusing it of having “disregarded every democratic principle and made the nation into a jail… just to cling to power”. Those who imposed Emergency have no right to profess their love for our Constitution,” he raged.
According to sources, the BJP will also respond to “fake narratives peddled by the opposition” during the federal election in April-June, when the Congress and its allies asserted that if Mr. Modi’s party won, they would want to fundamentally change the Constitution.
The opposition’s counterattack will be led by Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who will deliver her first speech in Parliament. Parliamentary operations have come to a near standstill as a result of Ms. Gandhi Vadra and the Congress’s unrelenting attacks on the Prime Minister and the BJP over the Adani issue. That’s probably going to be the main emphasis of this discussion. The Congress has angered its allies, such as the Samajwadi Party and the Trinamool, with its insistence on concentrating on Adani. They disassociated themselves this week, accusing the Congress and the BJP of arguing so much that it interferes with government.
Mahua Moitra and Kalyan Banerjee from the Trinamool, as well as TR Baalu and A Raja from the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu, are also anticipated to speak. Considering Ms. Moitra’s contentious expulsion during the last few weeks of the last Lok Sabha, her address will be very interesting.
The opposition is also anticipated to make a “save the Constitution” argument in addition to each party’s specific criticism of the BJP, such as the Congress’s Adani issue and the Samajwadi Party’s possible Sambhal violence and farmers’ protest. Amit Shah will head the BJP’s drive in the debate, which will be picked up by the Rajya Sabha on Monday and Tuesday. Late Thursday, the BJP and the Congress sent three-line whips, a written notice of the utmost urgency, to their MPs urging them to attend.
