Sitharaman attacked the Congress and said the party brought Constitutional amendments to protect its leaders and not for strengthening the democracy.
NEW DELHI: A war of words was witnessed in the Rajya Sabha on Monday as the House took up the debate on the Constitution of India, with union minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge locking horns in the Parliament.
Sitharaman attacked the grand old party and its leaders, including former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, and said the Constitutional amendments that they brought were not about strengthening the democracy but about protecting those in power.
The finance minister added that India, a nation which prides itself on freedom of expression even today, saw the first interim government come up with a constitutional amendment meant to curb the freedom speech of Indians and that was within one year of adoption of the Constitution.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge hit back at Sitharaman’s remarks on Constitution, saying that while she might have a good language, she does not have good deeds.
Taking part in the debate in the Rajya Sabha, Kharge said, “I have to tell them that I also know how to read. I have studied in municipality school, she (Nirmala Sitharaman) has studied in Jawaharlal Nehru University, it is certain that her English will be good, her Hindi will be good, but the deeds are not good.”
