Constitution Day on Tuesday brought the government and the Opposition on one stage in the central hall of Parliament in a fleeting interlude of truce that proved to be shortlived.

The BJP later picked on Rahul Gandhi for allegedly disrespecting President Droupadi Murmu and the Congress accused the ruling party of trying to hollow out the Constitution while paying lip service to it.

“Congress always disrespects President Smt Droupadi Murmu ji, because she is the first Tribal woman to occupy the highest office of the land. Rahul Gandhi and family despise SC, ST and OBCs. It shows,” BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya wrote on X and posted a video of Rahul appearing to be trying to get off the podium at the end of the function as others, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, greeted Murmu.

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, who was sitting to the left of Rahul at one end of the stage, could also be seen making way for Rahul before both stood by to wait for the President to leave.

The war of words over the Constitution was also witnessed in BJP-ruled Odisha where the absence of the words “secular” and “socialist” from a replica of the Preamble on display near one of the entry points of the Assembly raised a storm.

Initially, the Preamble to the Constitution didn’t have the words “secular” and “socialist”, which were incorporated through the 42nd amendment in 1976. The BJP maintains that the two words were later introduced by the Congress for the sake of appeasement politics.

Rahul and Kharge didn’t speak at the main function in Parliament on Tuesday but tore into the BJP at a Constitution Day event organised by the SC department of the Congress in the capital.

Asserting that the Prime Minister has not read the Constitution, Rahul — holding a red-coloured pocket edition — said this was not just a book but the idea and ethos of India over thousands of years.

“It sums up the idea of empowerment advocated by (B.R.) Ambedkar, (Mahatma) Gandhi, (Gautam) Buddha, (Jyotiba) Phule… In every state, you will find a couple of names whose thinking you will find in this book — in Kerala, there is Narayana Guru; in Karnataka, Basavanna; in Maharashtra, Phule and Shivaji…”

He asked: “Is there Savarkar’s voice in the Constitution? Is it written anywhere in the Constitution that violence can be used and people can be intimidated and killed? Or that governance can be based on lies?”

Rahul picked on Savarkar after several months, having gone quiet on the Hindutva icon in deference to the sensitivities of key ally Shiv Sena (UBT) in Maharashtra.

“The Constitution is a book of truth and non-violence…. It is the truth of India and shows the way of non-violence,” Rahul added.

Referring to a caste census, of which the Congress has become a loud advocate, he said it would provide the data that would allow governments to shift the development paradigm.

Rahul accused the Modi government of trying to firm up the wall of discrimination that denied the traditionally marginalised sections of society access to resources and opportunities.

“This wall is being strengthened by the RSS and the BJP. They pour cement into this wall whenever they get a chance,” he said, citing the privatisation of public sector companies as a case in point in an oblique reference to reservation avenues drying up as a result.

While appreciative of the steps taken by the Congress-led UPA to weaken the wall of discrimination through legally enforceable rights like the MNREGA, National Food Security Act and the Land Acquisition Act, Rahul maintained that the Manmohan Singh government could have done more.

Kharge was more combative in his speech, demanding a return to ballot paper voting.

He claimed Modi was afraid of the caste census as everyone would ask for their dues. He took swipes at the Sangh Parivar, stating that they had sought jobs in the British government during the freedom struggle and opposed the Constitution.

“If you are true followers of the Constitution, then stop spreading hate and indulging in hate politics,” Kharge said, claiming the Constitution as a Congress legacy to counter the BJP’s oft-repeated criticism that the party did nothing for the country in 70 years.

The Congress wants a two-day discussion on the Constitution in Parliament to mark the 75th anniversary of its adoption by the Constituent Assembly in 1949. Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi met Speaker Om Birla in this regard along with two of his party colleagues.

The Samajwadi Party stayed away from the Constitution Day event in Parliament in protest against the loss of lives in violence in Sambhal and the denial of permission to party MPs to visit the area.

“The true celebration of the Constitution is by practising it,” SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said.

Modi claim

Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday said he had restricted his work within the framework of the Constitution.

Addressing the 75th Constitution Day celebrations at the Supreme Court, Modi said: “I wish to tell you all that I have confined my work within the framework of the Constitution and had done only what has been assigned to me under the Constitution. I have not done any encroachment.”