Congress has disrespected Constitution, manipulated reservations for appeasement: PM Modi

New Delhi [India], December 14 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused the Congress of manipulating reservations for appeasement, harming SC, ST, and OBC communities and said Dr BR Ambedkar had introduced the reservation system to ensure equality and rights for the underprivileged.
"Baba Saheb Ambedkar dedicated his life to uplift marginalised communities for India's progress. He believed that to make our country developed in a true sense, no section should remain weak. For this, he introduced the reservation system to ensure equality and rights for the underprivileged. However, vote-bank politics by them (Congress) hijacked this system, manipulating reservations for appeasement, harming SC, ST, and OBC communities," PM Modi said in his speech during discussion on the 150 years of adoption of Constitution.
He accused Congress of repeatedly amending the Constitution and said many times the changes were "self-serving".
"In almost six decades, the Constitution was amended 75 times. The poison that was sowed by the first Prime Minister of the country was nurtured by another Prime Minister - Indira Gandhi...," PM Modi said.
"Congress has constantly disrespected the Constitution, reduced the importance of the Constitution. Congress is full of many examples of this... Everyone knows about 370 but very few know about 35-A... If there is any first son of the Constitution of India, then it is the Parliament but they have strangled it too. They imposed 35-A on the country without bringing it to the Parliament... This work was done on the orders of the President and the Parliament of the country was kept in the dark," he alleged
PM Modi said that Congress violated its own constitution and there was little hope of it respecting the country's Constitution.
He said Congress committees favoured Sardar Patel for the role of Prime Minister but Jawaharlal Nehru was chosen.
"Twelve state Congress committees of Congress had agreed on the name of Sardar Patel. There was not a single committee with Nehru ji... As per the Constitution, Sardar Sahib would have become the Prime Minister of the country... How can those who do not believe in the Constitution of their party accept the Constitution of the country?"
The two-day debate on 75 years of the Constitution started in Lok Sabha on Friday.