'Dragging India Into An Abyss': Sonia Gandhi Slams BJP Over Waqf Bill, ONOE

Sonia Gandhi called the Waqf Bill a "brazen assault on the Constitution" and urged Congress MPs to be aggressive in opposing the BJP. She also criticised the One Nation, One Election Bill.

In her first reaction to the passage of Waqf (Amendment) Bill in Lok Sabha, Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, called it a brazen assault on the Constitution and urged the party lawmakers to be ‘aggressive and combative’ in calling out the BJP-ruled NDA government’s failures.

Sonia said that the Waqf bill was bulldozed through the Parliament. “The Bill is a brazen assault on the Constitution itself. It is very much part of the BJP’s deliberate strategy to keep our society in a state of permanent polarization,” she said at the CPP General Body meeting.

Sonia Gandhi strongly opposed the One Nation, One Election (ONOE) Bill, calling it yet another attempt to undermine the Constitution. "Whether it is education, civil rights and liberties, our federal structure or conduct of elections, the Modi government is dragging the country into an abyss where our Constitution will remain on paper, and we know their intention is to demolish even that," she charged.

"It is vital for all of us to continue to fight for what is right and just, to expose the Modi government's failing and intention to turn India into a surveillance state," Gandhi told MPs at the meeting.

She said it is vital for all “to continue to fight for what is right and just”.

Sonia Gandhi accused the prime minister of rebranding, repackaging, and marketing several initiatives from 2004-2014 as his own achievements. She asserted the need to expose this through public outreach efforts.

Sonia stated that the BJP MPs are targeting Congress-ruled states in Parliament “with total falsehoods, especially during the Zero Hour.”

A Congress Rajya Sabha MP also voiced concerns over Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi being "denied opportunities" to speak in the House. He further added that Mallikarjun Kharge, the LoP in Rajya Sabha, was similarly not allowed to express his views freely.

“This is quite extraordinary and shocking, designed to prevent the Opposition from raising their concerns that would put the Government on the spot,” she remarked.