Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati has condemned the chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, Bibek Debroy, for “exceeding his jurisdiction” in calling for a new Constitution in an article.
“Bibek Debroy clearly acted beyond his brief, which the central government must take immediate cognizance of and take action, so that no one dares talk this way again,” wrote Ms. Mayawati, on X (formerly Twitter).
The four-time U.P. Chief Minister and Dalit leader said “the Constitution is a guarantee of humanity and egalitarianism for poor, backward and neglected people. Only selfish, narrow-minded and casteist elements dispute such an outlook and seek to turn it into an anti-people and pro-capitalist document. Opposing such an idea is everyone’s responsibility,” she added
In an opinion piece published on August 15 titled “There’s a case for ‘we the people’ to embrace a new Constitution” in a newspaper, Mr. Debroy argued that, a study showed that the lifespan of written constitutions is just 17 years.
“Our current Constitution is largely based on the Government of India Act of 1935. In that sense, it is also a colonial legacy. Much of what we debate begins and ends with the Constitution. A few amendments won’t do. We should go back to the drawing board and start from first principles, asking what these words in the Preamble mean now: socialist, secular, democratic, justice, liberty and equality. We the People have to give ourselves a new Constitution.”
