Modi speaks out, says ‘India first’ govt’s religion

Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 27

Facing attack over his alleged silence on “intolerance”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today tried to strike a conciliatory note and said ‘India first’ was the only religion for his government and the Constitution its only ‘holy book’.

Replying to a debate on “Commitment to the Constitution” in the Lok Sabha, the Prime Minister said his government was committed to working equally for all sections and religions in the country, and that consensus was more important than majority rule.

“For the government, the only ‘dharma’ is ‘India first’, the only ‘dharma granth’ (holy book) is the Constitution,” he said in his 70-minute speech on the floor of the House. 

Avoiding reference to any particular incident when the Opposition members questioned his “long silence” on “intolerance”, he said diversity was India’s strength, which needed to be nurtured. He said instead of pointing fingers and speaking in the language of “I” and “you”, “we should speak in the language of ‘we’”. 

The Prime Minister also ruled out any review of the Constitution and tried to reach out to the Opposition saying the ruling side “did not believe in forcing decisions through majority, but believed in working through consensus”. 

Modi also refuted the Congress’ charge that the government was denying due importance to some of the greatest Indian leaders. “Today’s India is not because what we do today, rather it is because of the contribution made by successive governments led by different prime ministers,” said Modi as he paid tribute to former PM Pt Jawaharlal Nehru.

Incidentally, Modi’s conciliatory note came on a day when he had invited Congress president Sonia Gandhi and his predecessor Manmohan Singh for tea, in an apparent bid to seek consensus on various issues, including the GST Bill, in Parliament. Though the two-day special session, which began yesterday, was meant to commemorate the 66 years of the Constitution and 125th birth anniversary of its founding father, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, the Opposition benches sought inclusion of “intolerance” in the topics for debate.

“The country will run by the Constitution and it should be run only by the Constitution. India has fundamentally grown on this ideology. The country has the internal energy amassed over thousands of years, which gives it the stimulus and capacity to deal with crises,” said Modi.

His comments came a day after acrimony was witnessed between the Treasury and Opposition benches when Home Minister Rajnath Singh said secularism was the “most misused” word in Indian politics and the Congress president hit back saying “those who had no role in the making of the Constitution were now discussing it and demanding a review”.

Invoking Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar and Nehru repeatedly, Modi underlined that the “Idea of India” was reflected by aspects like “Ahinsa Parmo Dharma, “Sarv Dharma Sambhav” and “Vasudev Kutumbakam”.