Constitution Debate To End Impasse? Key Details In Big BJP, Congress Face-Off

1. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will get the ball rolling for the BJP. 12-15 MPs from the ruling party and its allies, including JDS boss and former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy; Shrikant Shinde, Sena boss Eknath Shinde’s son; former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Manjhi, and the LJP’s Shambhavi Choudhary will also speak.

2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have the last word; Mr Modi will respond to the debate, and the opposition’s counter-attacks, Saturday evening. That Rajnath Singh and the Prime Minister will both speak underlines the BJP’s plan – to fire on all guns at its rivals.

3. Sources told NDTV the BJP will look to target the Congress over the Emergency imposed by former Prime Minister and party stalwart Indira Gandhi. That gameplan will likely carry echoes from the party’s fierce attack in the June session of Parliament, which was the first after Mr Modi secured a third consecutive term, albeit with a reduced majority.

4. Six months ago, Mr Modi ripped into his rival, accusing it of having “disregarded every democratic principle and made the nation into a jail… just to cling to power”. Those who imposed Emergency have no right to profess their love for our Constitution,” he raged.

5. The BJP, sources said, will also hit back at “fake narratives peddled by the opposition” during the April-June federal election, when the Congress and its allies claimed Mr Modi’s party would look to alter the Constitution – at a fundamental level – if they won.

6. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who is also the Leader of the Opposition, will lead the opposition’s counter-attack. Mr Gandhi and the Congress have been relentless in targeting the Prime Minister and the BJP on the Adani issue, leading to a near-complete halt in parliamentary affairs. That is likely to remain the focus of its speech in this debate.

7. The Congress’ insistence on focusing on Adani has upset its allies, including the Trinamool and the Samajwadi Party. This week they distanced themselves and accused the Congress and the BJP of squabbling so much that it disrupts governance.

8. Also expected to speak are TR Baalu and A Raja of Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK, and Mahua Moitra and Kalyan Banerjee from the Trinamool. Ms Moitra’s speech will be of particular interest given her controversial expulsion in the final weeks of the last Lok Sabha.

9. Apart from each opposition party’s particular attacks on the BJP – the Adani issue for the Congress and, perhaps, the violence in Sambhal and the farmers’ protest for the Samajwadi Party – the opposition is also expected to mount a ‘save the Constitution’ pitch.

10. Late Thursday the BJP and the Congress issued three-line whips – a written notice of the utmost urgency – to their MPs to be present for the debate, which will be picked up by the Rajya Sabha on Monday and Tuesday, where Amit Shah will lead the BJP’s charge. 

With input from agencies

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