Waqf amendment bill ‘assault’ on Constitution: Sonia Gandhi

Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Thursday termed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill as a “brazen assault” on the Constitution, saying it was part of the BJP’s strategy to keep society in a state of “permanent polarisation”. Hours after the Lok Sabha passed the Waqf amendment bill, Gandhi said the bill was “bulldozed” through in the lower house. Addressing Congress MPs at a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party in Samvidhan Sadan here, she also said that the One Nation, One Election Bill is another subversion of the Constitution and the party would strongly oppose it. Whether it is education, civil rights and liberties, our federal structure or conduct of elections, the Modi government is dragging the country into an abyss where our Constitution will remain on paper and we know their intention is to demolish even that,” she charged. “It is vital for all of us to continue to fight for what is right and just, to expose Modi government’s failing and intention to turn India into a surveillance state,” Gandhi told MPs at the meeting. All party MPs, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, were present at the meeting. Sonia Gandhi also alleged that the prime minister has rebranded, repackaged and marketed numerous initiatives taken during 2004-2014 as his own personal accomplishments. That too needs to be exposed through our own public outreach activities, she asserted.