New Delhi: Indian politics is reaching further down the aisle due to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's great condemnation of the Waqf Amendment Bill late on Thursday—the day when the Lok Sabha sanctioned the bill. Sonia Gandhi during a Congress parliamentary caucus said the bill was nothing but a "brazen assault" on the Constitution fueled by the BJP's conceptualization of societal polarization. This critical allegation, hurled right in her face by the members of the BJP, whose demand hurled right back was for an apology from Sonia Gandhi.
A long 12-hour discussion witnessing a tally of 288 Ayes and 232 Noes proved the Waqf (Amendment) Bill to triumph in the Lok Sabha. Its opponents have labeled the government bill as a "historic reform", while the opposition, led by the Congress, claims that it is an "anti-Muslim" and "anti-constitutional" bill.
In her speech, Sonia Gandhi also criticized the proposed One Nation, One Election Bill, pointing it down as "subversion of the Constitution." She voiced concern that the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is wreaking havoc with the architecture of federalism and civil rights by creating a "surveillance state." It was further blamed on the BJP for not allowing the Congress to raise relevant issues in Parliament and propagating outright falsehoods about Congress-led states.
In response, BJP MPs with the precedent of Nishikant Dubey demanded for Sonia Gandhi to apologize for causing disparagement upon the Constitution of India. This led to BJP MP-led protests forcing an adjournment of the Lok Sabha on Friday morning.
Meanwhile, the Congress party has decided to lodge a Constitutional challenge against the amendment to the Waqf on the grounds of its invalidity-a process expected to be initiated very soon as affirmed by party leader Jairam Ramesh. The series of collisions anchored in Indian politics delineate a fissure into the political landscape requisite for the people.
[Source Credit: NDTV]
