"Amendment is only remedy suggested by Sardar Patel": Kharge counters Sitharaman's allegation

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday countered Nirmala Sitharaman's allegations against the Congress and said that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel himself wrote a letter to Jawaharlal Nehru, stating that Constitutional amendments are the only solution to pressing problems.
Speaking during a discussion on the Constitution in Rajya Sabha, Kharge said, "On July 3, 1950, Sardar Patel wrote a letter to Nehru, stating that Constitutional amendments were the only solution to pressing problems. Patel himself said in that letter, "As you say, we have involved ourselves in so many legal and Constitutional difficulties that we do not know how to overcome them. My own feeling is that very soon we shall have to sit down and consider Constitutional Amendment."
"By distorting facts, even Sardar Patel's contributions have been disrespected," he attacked the BJP.
He also mentioned that nobody has the right to criticize the leaders like Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel.
"Great leaders like Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, and Sardar Patel contributed immensely to the nation's independence. We have no right to criticize them. But the Prime Minister has attacked the credibility of not just Nehru, Patel, and others, but even his own leader Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. He speaks about individuals he has neither met nor heard. The hatred for Nehru has blinded him to the extent that he has raised questions on the Constituent Assembly, the Interim Government, and the Provisional Parliament. He should at least realize when he is criticizing his own leader and when he is targeting Nehru," Kharge said.
The LoP pointed out that PM Modi even claimed that Nehru brought in a Constitutional amendment when no elected government existed but the first amendment was passed by the Provisional Parliament, which comprised members of the Constituent Assembly itself.
Further, Mallikarjun Kharge highlighted that when many countries did not have universal adult franchise and women were denied the right to vote, India, through the efforts of the Congress and the Constitution, granted universal adult franchise to everyone.
"India became only nation where, from the moment the Constitution was implemented, people from all sections of society were given this right. Isn't this the contribution of Nehru and Ambedkar? You may not even realize how much pain and sacrifice they endured for the country. Those who did not fight for the nation's independence and Constitution cannot truly understand their importance," he said.
"The Prime Minister accuses us of making empty promises. But in reality, who is the biggest liar? People are still waiting for the 15 lakh rupees that were promised. Was the promise of two crore jobs false or true? This is outright deception. These people who make hollow promises are misleading the nation. In these 11 years, name one thing that has strengthened our democracy or Constitution," he said.
Kharge also emphasized that if land reforms, bank nationalization, the Food Security Act, or MGNREGA had not been introduced, the poor in this country would have perished.
Earlier today, initiating the debate on the constitution in the upper house, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a scathing attack on former Congress leaders including Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi and said that the Constitutional amendments that they brought were not about strengthening democracy but protecting those in power.