'No need to include secular': JP Nadda lectures on Constitution, 'attempt to murder democracy'

Even a good constitution can prove to be bad if those implementing it are not good, Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha J P Nadda said on Tuesday, asserting the "bad lot" interfered with the Indian Constitution many times. Participating in a discussion on the "Glorious Journey of 75 Years of the Constitution of India", Nadda attacked the Congress over the Emergency, amendment to the Preamble of the Constitution and also raised the Article 370 issue.

He said the nation is indebted to the members of the Constituent Assembly who shaped the Constitution. "As the prime minister said, India is not just the largest democracy, but the mother of democracy. The architects of our Constitution knew this is not a nation in the making, it was always a nation," said Nadda, who is also the BJP president.

"As per Indian ethos, democracy comprises freedom, acceptability, equality, inclusivity, and allowing citizens to lead a dignified life," he said. The BJP leader quoted B R Ambedkar to say "however good a Constitution may be, if those who are implementing it are not good, it will prove to be bad". He also said the "bad lot has interfered with the Constitution many times".

Mentioning Article 370, which was abrogated in 2019, the BJP president blamed former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the Congress for bringing it in the first place. Ambedkar had opposed the provision of Article 370, while Article 35A was brought in with Presidential assent without a debate in Parliament, Nadda said.

"I am proud to say, Syama Prasad Mookerjee raised the issue of Article 370 and sacrificed his life for it... His mother wrote to Nehru Ji and sought an investigation. But that request was ignored and this is also registered in the pages of history," he claimed.

"It is a question of the good lot and the bad lot," Nadda said. "After the bad lot, we got the good lot. On August 5, 2019, we abrogated Article 370... I once again congratulate the PM. Because of his wisdom, Jammu and Kashmir is an inseparable part of India now."

He also said Congress leaders are saying they have apologised for the Emergency, but "how do we believe this"? The 50th anniversary of the Emergency is next year, he reminded the House and said, "We will observe anti-democracy day. We invite the Indian National Congress to join us."

"There was an attempt to murder democracy... if there is any regret in their hearts, I invite you to join us on June 25, 2025," Nadda said. The government declared June 25 as "Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas", the day the Emergency was imposed in 1975 by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Nadda also claimed that Ambedkar, during the debates of the Constituent Assembly, had said there was no need to include the words 'secular' and 'socialist' in the Preamble of the Constitution. "Ambedkar said there was no need to include 'secular', as the entire Constitution embodied the concept of a secular state that meant no discrimination on grounds of religion and equal rights and status of all citizens," he said.

"On the inclusion of the term socialist, he had said it is against the very grain of democracy to decide what kind of society people of India should live in," Nadda added.

(This story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)

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