Congress always chose power over Constitution: Rajnath

New Delhi: Accusing the Congress of always choosing "satta" (power) over the Constitution, senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh on Friday said the opposition party never tolerated autonomy of institutions and tried to destroy constitutional principles and spirit.

Initiating a two-day debate in the Lok Sabha on "Discussion on the Glorious Journey of 75 Years of the Constitution of India", the defence minister said the Congress has sought to project the Constitution as its own contribution, while deliberately ignoring the contribution of several leaders.

"The talk of protection of the Constitution does not seem appropriate coming from it (Congress). These days, I see that many opposition leaders keep the Constitution in their pockets.

Actually, this is what they have learnt from childhood, they have seen their families keep the Constitution in their pockets for generations," he said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on the other hand, always bows before the Constitution and has never played with the independence and autonomy of institutions, Singh asserted, drawing some jibes from the members of the opposition benches during a speech that was largely heard in attention.

The seasoned parliamentarian said the Congress, during its decades in power, often amended the Constitution with a malicious spirit to change it gradually, while the Narendra Modi government has effected amendments to strengthen its fundamental values and for people’s empowerment.

Whenever there was a choice, the Congress chose power over the Constitution, he claimed. It always tried to “hijack and appropriate” the framing of the Constitution, Singh said, highlighting the imposition of Emergency, dismissal of many state governments and superseding of Supreme Court judges for “standing up” to the then Indira Gandhi government to charge the party with violating constitutional principles.

The BJP leader said he is surprised that those who subverted the Constitution are now speaking for its protection.

“Expressions for protecting the Constitution from the Congress do not look good,” he said in a jibe at the opposition party.