© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
As the two-day discussion on the Constitution begins in the Lok Sabha on Friday, the Congress has chosen a line-up of speakers carefully calibrated to reflect a balance of castes and communities.
Sources in the Congress said apart from Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who will open the debate for her party and make her first speech in Parliament, the party is set to field two leaders from minority communities, one each from the Other Backward Class (OBC) and Scheduled Caste (SC) communities, and two from Scheduled Tribes (ST) groups. A Congress insider said the party leadership made an effort to ensure representation to different states and communities on the first day, “giving a message of following the principles of the Constitution”.
The Congress high command held a meeting with its Parliamentary Strategy Group on Thursday evening to discuss the speakers for the day. A leader present at the meeting told The Indian Express, “If you look at all the speakers, you can see the party has ensured that leaders from different states, communities and regions get a chance to raise their points during the debate on Friday. It is a message to the people that we will ensure representation for all communities and are working with the ideals of the Constitution. We have people from the northeast, south, Maharashtra, and the mainland. So we have made special efforts to incorporate all communities and regions.”
This debate is a vital moment for the Congress as it has made the Constitution one of its main planks to target the Narendra Modi government. Senior leaders said the party was clear to leaders that “this is a moment that all MPs should try to capitalise on”. The Congress said Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge respectively, wrote to the Lower House Speaker and Upper House Chairman demanding a debate on the Constitution.
On December 2, a week-long standoff in Parliament came to an end as the government and the Opposition reached an agreement reflected in the announcement of the dates for this special discussion on the Constitution. The discussions in the Rajya Sabha are expected to be held next week.
