Cong. lends a twist to review debate

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB 3. The debate over the Constitution Review Commission set up by the Vajpayee Government took a new twist today when the Congress(I) admitted that it too had set up a similar commission when Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister.

Even as the Congress(I) Working Committee demanded that before proceeding any further, the Government should clarify its real intentions and delineate the specific areas that the Constitution Review Commission would go into, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee said that there was a difference between the present commission and the Swaran Singh Commission.

``The Congress(I) had a clear-cut majority in both Houses of Parliament,'' the CWC member said in a clarification that could be interpreted as meaning that if a party enjoys a majority in Parliament it is justified in making any amendments to the Constitution. Mr. Mukherjee was briefing the press about this evening's CWC meeting.

After the two-and-half-hour long meeting, the CWC issued a statement reiterating what the party has been saying for the past two days: that only after the Government gave these clarifications would the Congress(I) be in a position to respond to the proposed changes in the Constitution.

Any attempt to amend the Constitution by bypassing major political parties would not be acceptable to the people of India, it said, pointing out that the process of amendment could only be a political one.

The Constitution had served the country admirably for the past 50 years and the Congress(I) would continue to support amendments which were in the interests of the poor, socially and economically backward.

Mr. Mukherjee said that although the Vajpayee Government had stated that the basic features of the Constitution would not be tampered with, these had not yet been defined. ``The Government should explain what is the basic structure.''

Upendra differs

Meanwhile, Mr. P. Upendra, Congress(I) leader, is learnt to have written a letter to party president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, urging that the party reconsider its stand on the review commission in the light of the assurances given that the basic features would not be changed and that parliamentary democracy was inviolable, and the appointment of Mr. M. N. Venkatchaliah as the chairman of the commission.

Mr. Upendra felt that as an Opposition party, the Congress(I) should have demanded that the Government forge a consensus on the terms of reference. While blaming the Government for its confrontationist approach, he said at the same time that there were 15 areas where a re-look was necessary. He pointed out that the commission's exercise was an academic one and that ultimately, Parliament would take over. It would not be possible for any amendment to be passed without the Congress(I)'s support because of the arithmetic in Parliament.

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