Review of Constitution: Defer move, says Opposition

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 2. The Opposition today questioned the Vajpayee Government's motives in ordering a review of the Constitution and demanded that the move be deferred until there was a consensus on the issue.

The Congress(I) reiterated its stand that there was no need for a review and said it would react ``very shortly'' to the Government's announcement of a commission to review the Constitution. Mr. Ajit Jogi, AICC spokesman, indicated that the Congress(I) Working Committee might discuss the issue, either formally or informally, after the terms of reference were announced. The party would give its reply then.

The party, he said, had also taken note of the statement of Mr. M. N. Venkatachaliah that he would accept the Government's offer of chairmanship of the commission only if his terms were accepted.

The Left parties were extremely critical saying that only Parliament was competent to undertake such a review. ``An executive decision will have no legitimacy,'' the CPI(M) said.

The party's politburo pointed out that specific amendments to the Constitution could be made by Parliament but a roving review was unwarranted and the CPI(M) would continue to oppose it.

The CPI demanded that the move be put off and Parliament be taken into confidence. ``The objective of the BJP- led Government quiet clearly is to tamper with the Constitution thereby creating an atmosphere of doubt about its republican character,'' the party's central secretariat said in a statement.

The former Prime Minister, Mr. V. P. Singh, questioned the manner in which the Government had gone about it. He said the least that it should have done was to consult other parties and take their opinion into consideration. He termed the attempt by the NDA government as `dangerous' by people of a `different psyche'. In support of his contention he maintained that while there are a number of issues on which there is consensus among parties on the need for `changes in the system', the government is seeking to rake up contentious issues.

The former Prime Minister cited the Sarkaria Commission report, right to information, need for greater transparency in the functioning of the government, decentralisation, measures to fight corrupt and contain criminalisation of politics as areas where there was consensus among political parties. He regretted that yet the government has chosen a confrontationist approach on the subject review of the Constitution.

Mr. Singh was at pains to emphasise that Constitution was an embodiment of the aspirations of the people and not a legal document and the elected representatives of people and Parliament were the ideal forum to evolve a consensus on the areas in the Constitution which needed a fresh look.

He said it was not correct to link instability with provisions of the Constitution and said inequity was the root cause of instability. He asserted that any number of amendments to the Constitution could not lend stability to the system as long as inequities exist.

Referring to the statement of the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, in the context of the debate on the Constitution that even the strongest fort needs repairs, Mr. Singh said ``in the name of repairs there should be no re- building. Sometimes tenants go for re-building in the name of repairs''.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Front Page
Next     : Govt. chooses Venkatachaliah