New Delhi, Dec 10 (IANS) After BJP MP Nishikant Dubey responded to Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s remarks during the debate on electoral reforms in the Lok Sabha, Congress on Wednesday criticised the parliamentarian for “looking back into the past” instead of addressing the country’s current issues.

Dubey, while participating in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) debate, accused the Congress of having weakened key constitutional institutions through amendments carried out during the 1970s. He strongly rejected Rahul Gandhi’s claim that national institutions have been “captured by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)”.

Reacting sharply to Dubey’s attack, Congress MP Sukhdeo Bhagat told IANS, “He should clarify what his views are about Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and Rabindranath Tagore? Because he kept talking about them during the debate on Vande Mataram. He should explain his position on these matters. What role is Nishikant Dubey playing? More than an MP, it seems he plays a bigger role in the Archaeological Survey of India, because whatever the issue may be, he always talks about looking back into the past.”

“Nishikant Dubey should clarify why there should not be any discussion on unemployment and other problems of the nation, like the IndiGo crisis? However, he likes to go back into the past and is an expert in digging up old dirt. That is why he could have been an honourable member of the ASI,” Bhagat further said.

During his speech in the House, Dubey had referred to the 1976 Swaran Singh Committee and the subsequent 42nd Constitutional Amendment, arguing that the move significantly weakened the autonomy of institutions during the Emergency.

He alleged that even the office of the President was reduced to a ceremonial role through Congress-led amendments.

Dubey’s remarks came in response to Rahul Gandhi’s speech in the Lok Sabha, where the Congress leader alleged that several constitutional and statutory institutions had been “captured”.

“The capture of the intelligence agencies, we have the Home Minister sitting here, the capture of the CBI, of the ED, of the Income Tax Department and the systematic placement of bureaucrats who favour their ideology and attack the opposition and anybody who chooses to oppose the RSS,” Gandhi had said in the House.

–IANS

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