'Her English is good as...she attended JNU': Kharge jibes Sitharaman
A heated exchange broke out in the Rajya Sabha on Monday between Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge during a debate on the Constitution of India. In her speech, Sitharaman had slammed past Congress leaders, including Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, for their constitutional amendments. She claimed these changes were meant to protect those in power instead of bolstering democracy.
Sitharaman criticizes past Congress leaders
Further, Sitharaman claimed India's first interim government brought a constitutional amendment to curtail free speech within a year of adopting the Constitution. In response, Kharge slammed Sitharaman's remarks and asked what she did despite being good with words. "I have studied in municipality school, she (Sitharaman) has studied in Jawaharlal Nehru University, it is certain that her English will be good...but the deeds are not good," he said.
Kharge defends Congress's role in granting universal franchise
Kharge defended the Congress by emphasizing that it was the party that gave universal adult franchise and women's voting rights when many powerful countries didn't. He claimed that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Jansangh (now BJP) opposed these rights. "I have to tell them that I also know how to read," he said, adding those who "hate" the Constitution are trying to instruct his party.
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When the Constitution was made, these people burned it: Kharge
Kharge added that "those who hated the tricolor, Ashok Chakra and the Constitution" are giving lessons on the Constitution today. "When the Constitution was made, these people burned it. They torched effigies of Babasaheb Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi at Ramleela Maidan (in Delhi) the day the Constitution was adopted," he said. "The RSS opposed the Constitution because it was not based on Manusmriti...On January 26, 2002, for the first time, the tricolor was hoisted at RSS headquarters under compulsion."
