K. Chandrashekar Rao, Chief Minister of Telangana and president,Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), kicked up a storm on February 1 when he said the Indian Constitution should be rewritten since the present one was not able to fulfil the expectations of the people even after 75 years of Independence. He called for a nationwide debate on his proposition of strengthening, even redrafting, the Indian Constitution.
Said Chandrashekar Rao: “India requires a new Constitution. India requires to rewrite the Constitution of India. Do you see anything wrong with that? Let it be debated and discussed. Because 75 valuable years have gone by. People’s expectations have not been met. Why? So, we need to make some new provisions to the Constitution of India.” By way of explanation, he said: “I firmly believe that so many nations have rewritten their Constitutions whenever they felt it necessary. They have got new Constitutions. Now, there is a need in this country to pursue a new Constitution of India. Our slogan will be ‘Naya Soch, Nayi Disha, Naya Samvidhan (new thinking, new direction and new Constitution)’.”
He disclosed he would be organising a conclave involving eminent citizens and that he had already spoken to several people, including economists Govind Rao, Vijay Khelkar and others.
The leader of the pink party took umbrage at the way successive governments at the Centre, led by both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had pursued unitary policies and appropriated the powers that were meant for the States. Chandrashekar Rao said that it was desirable that more powers be transferred to the States as the Indian democracy matured.
Citing the proposal by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Union Budget 2022 on establishing the “One Nation, One Registration” mechanism, he said it was a conspiracy against the States. He said: “They [the BJP] have badly neglected the poor citizens of the country. The entire world has awoken, except the Government of India. I appeal to youth to rise and fight for your own future. We will tell the country in a fitting manner. India reacts whenever needed. It is time for the country to react. There is a requirement for revolution in the country. Until and unless we fight, we will never be able to change. Within two years, we will bring shining India. Until when will we sit calm? We will not tolerate these useless parties and politicians.”
In an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister asked: “Will India get electricity by growing a beard to look like Rabindranath Tagore during the Bengal elections, changing clothes like wearing a lungi during the Tamil Nadu elections and changing caps?”
Even while ruling out his candidature for the post of Prime Minister, the Telangana Chief Minister revealed that the process of talking to other leaders had already begun and disclosed that he would soon be meeting Uddhav Thackeray. “I am not a competitor for the Prime Minister’s post. I am part of Indian development administration agenda. If needed, I will contest for Parliament,” he said.
COMMents
COMMents
SHARE