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Prime Minister Narendra Modi questioned “dynastic parties” and said people who believe in the Constitution should be concerned about family-based parties.
He was speaking at the Central Hall of Parliament on the Constitution Day on Friday marking the adoption of the Constitution on this day in 1949, and came into effect on November 26, 1950. The Opposition parties boycotted the function charging that the Centre was celebrating the event even as attacks against constitutional values remain unchecked.
Modi said the Constitution is not just a collection of many articles but it is a great tradition of millennia. “This is a modern expression of that unbroken stream,” he said. He said it would have been better were Constitution Day is also celebrated like the Republic Day.
Also see: PM Modi invited to US Summit of Democracies
He said the country is heading towards a kind of a crisis in the form of dynastic political parties. “More than one person from a family joining the party on the basis of merit does not make the party dynastic. Problems arise when a party is run by the same family, generation after generation,” he said apparently targetting the Congress.
‘Spirit of Constitution’
He said the spirit of the Constitution has also been hurt, every section of the Constitution has also been hurt, when political parties lose their democratic character themselves.
“How can the parties which have lost their democratic character protect democracy?,” he asked.
Opposition boycotts
The Congress said the Prime Minister’s criticism of the Opposition is unwarranted. “They need to reflect the manner in which they have conducted the affairs of state, taken decisions and they owe an explanation on why they have taken measures, which are violative of the Constitution and even the directives of the Supreme Court, done away with transparency in governance and accountability of the Government to Parliament and through the Parliament to the people of India.
Congress has taken a conscious decision to boycott the function and we have coordinated this with like minded parties and other parties in opposition, who also collectively oppose this authoritarian trend and functioning of the Centre,” deputy leader of the Congress in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma said.
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