No Threat To Constitution, As Long As There Is Moon And Sun: CM Fadnavis

(MENAFN- IANS) Mumbai, March 26 (IANS) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Wednesday that as long as there is a moon and a sun, no one will be able to change the Constitution of India.

He asserted that there is no threat to the Constitution, saying that it has weathered all odds and has become mature. No one can meddle with it.

In his reply to a two-day debate in the state Assembly on 'The glorious journey of the Indian Constitution', the chief minister accused the opposition of defaming the country's institutions because they cannot come to power. He asked the opposition to set a new narrative for the next elections, as their narrative of change in the Constitution played up during the Lok Sabha elections won't work in future.

Fadnavis highlighted the history of the creation of the Constitution and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's contribution to it. "As long as there is a moon and a sun, no one will be able to change the Constitution of India. Therefore, there is no threat to the Constitution.”

Recalling that his father was imprisoned for two years during the Emergency, he stated,“During the Emergency, my father and aunt had to endure two years in prison. More than one lakh people from the opposition parties were imprisoned.” He said that during the Emergency, the then government had suspended the fundamental rights of the people and removed the freedom of expression.

“The situation was created as if the country were not run based on law but by diktat. By freezing the Constitution written by Dr Br Ambedkar, the then government had decided to put the entire opposition in jail,” he remarked.“During the Emergency period, the Indira Gandhi-led government included socialist and secular words which are not there in the original Constitution. Dr Ambedkar knew that secularism is the soul of the country,” said the chief minister.

He said that the Centre took back the powers given to the states through the 42nd amendment, accordingly, the central agencies and police can intervene in the states. However, now they cannot do so. Without the state government's consent, the central police and agencies cannot enter the state. He further commented that after the 42nd amendment, the President was made a puppet as it was made binding to send the government decisions back merely by signing them.

Speaking about the criticism being levelled against the country's institutions, the chief minister said, "You want to tarnish all the institutions of the country, point fingers at them, and somehow lead those institutions towards anarchy. We cannot come to power and then defame the institutions of the country in this way. When we defame these institutions, we show distrust in the Constitution. Because this Constitution has created these institutions. These institutions have been made so strong that no one can break them. Therefore, nothing bad can happen to the institutions created by this Constitution."

The chief minister said that during the Congress-led government, the Constitution was amended to overturn the Supreme Court judgment in the Shah Bano case in 1985. However, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government amended the Constitution to ban the practice of instant triple talaq. Further, the Constitution was also amended to scrap Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier, NCP SP legislator Jayant Patil, Congress legislator Nana Patole, among others, participated in the debate.

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