'India first' only religion for government, Constitution only holy book: PM Narendra Modi

NEW DELHI: In a speech devoid of any tone of political confrontation and by rising above partisan politics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asserted in the Lok Sabha that for his government 'India first' is the only religion and the Constitution is the only holy book. He vowed to work on the principle of consensus and for the welfare of people of all sections and religions.

"For the government, the only dharma is India first, the only dharma granth (holy book) is the Constitution...the nation will run only according to the Constitution," the prime minister said. "Consensus is more important than majority rule...in a democracy, the real strength comes when we all walk on the path towards agreement," he added. Modi's assurance to the House is seen in the context of Opposition leaders raking up the intolerance issue during their speeches.

The tone of Modi's reply to the two-day debate on the Constitution was markedly different from that of his earlier speeches in which he sparred with the Opposition in the House. Incidentally, he spoke just minutes before his all-important meeting on GST with Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh.

The prime minister also ruled out any review of the Constitution, an issue the Opposition was agitating against ever since Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday spoke about the manner in which "secular" and "socialist" was inserted by amending the preamble of the Constitution. The home minister had even called secularism "the most abusive word in the contemporary political discourse". Modi seemed to distance himself from such controversies. "The spirit of this (Constitution) debate is not you or I, it is we...I thank everyone for the interest shown in the Constitution debate and the support it got," he noted, reaching out to all sections of the House.

The prime minister paid glowing tributes to Ambedkar for his stellar role in framing the Constitution. "BR Ambedkar's thoughts & teachings have been valid, true and applicable to all generations of any given time - Ambedkar faced insults all his life, it colours a person's intentions. But nowhere in Constitution does any of that reflect. If someone has to criticise the government or defend oneself or want to be neutral, all that can be done by quoting Babasaheb Ambedkar. Ambedkar has also made the Constitution, apart from a book for running administration and parliament, an important social document," he said.

Modi also praised Jawaharlal Nehru and other stalwarts in the Constituent Assembly. "Diversity is the strength of India and it needs to be nurtured," he underlined.

Saluting the contributions of all his predecessors and earlier governments, the prime minister said, "I have said from the Red Fort, but I am again saying that this nation is what it is today due to contribution of all past governments and former prime ministers."

While emphasising on how to make people, especially the youth, more aware of the Constitution and calling for public awareness programmes on the same, Modi also pitched the Constitution as a tool for empowering the youth and for the development of the country.

"India has 800 million youngsters…what can be better than that. We have to create opportunities for them...our focus must be on how our Constitution can help the Dalits, the marginalised and the poor...it is important to strengthen rights and it is as important to strengthen duties," he said.

Throughout his speech, the Opposition members sat silently and the only notable objection they made was to point out that the pension scheme he had referred to was actually done by the UPA regime.