Constitution Debate Rajya Sabha: The Constitution Debate in Rajya Sabha on Monday saw a verbal exchange between Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Congress MP Jairam Ramesh in Rajya Sabha over the 42nd Amendment by the Indira Gandhi government in 1976 during the Emergency period.
Sitharaman, who began the two-day debate in the Upper House on the completion of 75 years of the Indian Constitution, said that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi “learned her lesson” after she suffered a massive electoral loss due to the imposition of Emergency in the country in 1975.
Jairam Ramesh interjected and said that Indira Gandhi herself supported the 44th Amendment in 1978 which sought to repeal parts of the 42nd Amendment, after “she realised had resulted in her electoral loss”.
Nirmala Sitharaman Vs Jairam Ramesh In Rajya Sabha
“The way in which the 42nd Amendment was passed, how Opposition leaders were all in the jail. Not one person opposed in the Rajya Sabha. In the Lok Sabha, just 5 of them spoke against it. When Granville Austin said this, Jairam Ramesh did not mind quoting something else from Austin, but ignored this,” Sitharaman said during the debate.
Upon mentioning of his name by the Minister, Jairam intervened and said that a 44th Amendment was passed in 1978 when Indira Gandhi had voted in support of the Amendment which sought to overwrite the parts of the 42nd Amendment. The Congress leader said that Indira Gandhi made this move then after realising that the 42nd Amendment had “resulted in her electoral loss.”
“The same Austin writes, “The 44th Amendment was passed by LS and RS to overwrite the large parts of the 42th Amendment. And who voted on December 7, 1978, to repeal parts of the 42nd Amendment? It was Indira Gandhi herself. She in 1978 voted to repeal the parts of the 42nd Amendment which she realised had resulted in her electoral loss,” Jairam said.
Soon after Jairam’s interjection, Leader of the House JP Nadda intervened, to which the Congress leader responded.
Sitharaman acknowledged that the points put forth by Jairam and Nadda were right and said that Indira Gandhi supported the 44th Amendment after facing a “massive defeat”, which “taught a lesson” to her.
