"Congress brought Amendments those exempted election of Prime Minister and President from judicial scrutiny ...during Emergency ," says Amit Shah

Amendments under Congress regime as per Amit Shah:

1st Amendment (June 18, 1951): The first amendment curtailed the right to freedom of expression under Article 19(1)(a).

24th Amendment (November 5, 1971): Empowered Parliament to amend fundamental rights, diminishing their inviolability.

39th Amendment (August 10, 1975): Exempted the election of the Prime Minister and President from judicial scrutiny, enacted during the Emergency to shield political leadership.

45th Amendment: Brought additional changes that Shah argued were politically motivated.

"The Opposition says we will change the Constitution. A provision to change the Constitution is already there in our Constitution. The Congress, during its 55 years of rule, made 77 amendments to our Constitution, while the BJP, in 16 years, did so only 22 times", Home Minister Amit Shah said in Rajya Sabha while replying to the debate on Indian Constitution.  

"In the last 75 years, the Congress played fraud in the name of the Constitution... They (Nehru-Gandhi family) considered not just the party as their private property, but also treated the Constitution as their 'private fiefdom'," 

-- he said, referring to the insertion of Article 35A without parliamentary assent.

Shah said that the ongoing Parliament session will help the people of the country to understand which party has honoured the values of the Constitution and which has not.  

He also listed the major amendments brought by the BJP-led NDA and recalled key legislatures including on GST.  

Goods and Services Tax (GST): 

The 101st Amendment introduced in 2014 revolutionised India's tax structure by establishing a unified taxation system.

102nd Amendment (2018): 

Granted constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), ensuring better representation and rights for backward communities.

103rd Amendment (2019): 

Introduced a 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in education and government jobs, addressing economic disparities.

105th Amendment (2021): 

Restored the power of state governments to identify Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBCs), promoting federalism and regional autonomy.

Recalling his personal experience, Amit Shah said, “I used to listen to Binaca Geetmala, but it suddenly stopped during the Emergency... 

My neighbour informed me that Kishore Kumar had a fallout with Indira Gandhi, leading her to prohibit his songs from being broadcast. 

As a result, for 19 months, the public heard duet songs of Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar in only Lata ji’s voice.”  

Binaca Geetmala was a popular radio countdown show that aired weekly on Radio Ceylon from 1952 to 1988 and then shifted to the Vividh Bharati Service of All India Radio network in 1989 where it ran until 1994. Hosted by Ameen Sayani, it featured a ranking of Bollywood film songs based on their popularity.

Amit Shah made the reference to the popular program as an example to underscore the suppression of democracy during the Emergency imposed by Congress government.

“This debate is needed so that nobody can do such acts ever again,” the Home Minister said. 

“And these people talk about democracy. Such acts led the public to punish them so severely that they cannot even dream of repeating such measures.”

ends