Rahul Gandhi takes oath as MP amid Bharat Jodo chants, holds Constitution

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took the oath as a member of the Lok Sabha today, amidst chants of "Bharat Jodo" and holding a copy of the Indian Constitution.

Rahul, who has been elected from both Wayanad and Raebareli, has decided to vacate the Wayanad seat, which will now be contested by his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

In his oath, Gandhi affirmed, "I, Rahul Gandhi, having been elected a member of the House of People, do solemnly affirm that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India, and that I will faithfully discharge the duty upon which I am about to enter. Jai Hind, Jai Samvidhan."

The display of the Constitution booklet has become a prominent feature in this Parliament session, especially after MPs of the INDIA Opposition bloc showcased the booklets in a demonstration yesterday. Several opposition MPs also shared photos on social media holding the Constitution.

Rahul Gandhi, in an interaction with the media, emphasized that the Opposition will not allow the government to "attack the Constitution."

In response to the Congress's emphasis on the Constitution, the BJP launched a vigorous counter-attack. Leading the charge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top ministers of the NDA government took to social media to mark the 50th anniversary of the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi's government.

Prime Minister Modi tweeted, "Today is a day to pay homage to all those great men and women who resisted the Emergency. The #DarkDaysOfEmergency remind us of how the Congress Party subverted basic freedoms and trampled over the Constitution of India which every Indian respects greatly."

He continued, "Just to cling on to power, the then Congress Government disregarded every democratic principle and made the nation into a jail. Any person who disagreed with the Congress was tortured and harassed. Socially regressive policies were unleashed to target the weakest sections."

The Prime Minister asserted that those who imposed the Emergency have no right to profess their love for the Constitution. "These are the same people who have imposed Article 356 on innumerable occasions, got a Bill to destroy press freedom, destroyed federalism, and violated every aspect of the Constitution," he added.

Modi further stated that the mindset that led to the imposition of the Emergency "is very much alive among the same Party which imposed it." He accused the Congress of hiding their disdain for the Constitution through tokenism, but noted that the people of India have seen through their antics, resulting in repeated electoral rejections.