Family-based parties a threat to democracy: PM

India faces crisis, Narendra Modi says on Constitution Day.

November 26, 2021 09:37 am | Updated November 27, 2021 07:08 am IST - New Delhi:

File photo. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 26 greeted citizens on Constitution Day

File photo. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 26 greeted citizens on Constitution Day

At two separate events to mark “Constitution Day” Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged dynastic politics as a threat to constitutional democracy and flayed certain Indians with a “colonial mindset” for erecting barriers to development in the country by “misusing” freedoms enshrined in the Constitution.

Addressing Parliament first on the occasion of “Constitution Day”, Mr Modi said the day was for paying homage to the House, but that India was heading to a “crisis” in the form of family-based parties, in an obvious dig at Opposition parties, many of whom had boycotted the event .

The event was also addressed by President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

Prime Minister Modi in his address paid tributes to Constitution framer B.R. Ambedkar and also homage on the 13th anniversary of the November 26 terror attacks in Mumbai.

While speaking on the Constitution he said it was “not just a collection of many article; our Constitution is a great tradition of millenia. This is a modern expression of that unbroken stream.”

“India is heading towards a kind of crisis, which is a matter of concern for those who believe in democracy,” Mr. Modi said in reference to family-based political parties.

“More than one person from a family joining the party on the basis of merit does not make the party dynastic. Problems arise when a party is run by the same family, generation after generation,” he said. “How can parties that have lost their democratic character protect democracy,” he said.

In another reference to the current schisms in politics, the Prime Minister said even in a background of diversity and the bitterness of Partition, leaders had put the nation first in adopting the Constitution, a situation that isn’t prevalent now.

“Imagine if we had to write a Constitution. Looking at the current scenario, we may not be able to write a single page of the Constitution,” he said.

Around 14 opposition parties including the Congress, DMK, Trinamool Congress, CPI, CPI(M), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) stayed away from the function.

Later in the day, addressing an event organised by the Supreme Court to mark Constitution Day, the Prime Minister flayed what he termed not just the “colonial mindset” of developed countries which was putting obstacles in the way of developed countries taking the same development trajectory as them, but also Indians who were using rights like freedom of expression to block progress.

“India is the only country in the process of achieving goals of the Paris Agreement ahead of time. And yet, in the name of the environment, various pressures are created on India. All this is the result of a colonial mentality. Unfortunately, due to such a mentality, obstacles are put in the development of our own country, sometimes in the name of freedom of expression and sometimes with the help of something else,” he said.

“We have to remove it (obstacles to development). And for this, our biggest strength, our biggest inspiration, is our Constitution,” he said.

Remarking that both the judiciary and the government were born of the “womb of the Constitution” the two complement each other. “On the strong foundation of separation of power, we have to pave the path of collective responsibility, create a roadmap, determine goals and take the country to its destination,” he said.

Chief Justice of India N. V. Ramana, Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and U.U. Lalit, and Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju were present at the function.

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