With Constitution In Hand, Rahul Gandhi Takes Oath As MP Amid Chants Of 'Bharat Jodo'

Congress MP from Raebareli, Rahul Gandhi took the oath in the Lok Sabha today holding a copy of the Indian Constitution amid chants of "Bharat Jodo".

Gandhi fought the election from two constituencies - Wayanad and Raebareli. He decided to vacate the Wayanad seat, which will now be contested by his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

"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," Mr Gandhi said, taking the oath.

Interestingly, Sansad TV has not shared Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav's oath ceremony clippings on their X handle till the filing of this report.

The display of the Constitution booklet has become a regular sight in this Parliament session, reported NDTV. This follows a demonstration by MPs from the INDIA Opposition bloc, who held up copies of the Constitution in a protest yesterday.

In a media interaction yesterday, Rahul Gandhi said that the Opposition's commitment to protecting the Constitution, stating that they would not permit any government attempts to "attack it".

In response to the Congress' emphasis on the Constitution, BJP has launched a strong counter-narrative. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with other top ministers of the NDA government, commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Emergency imposed by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, highlighting the Congress' past actions to challenge their current stance.

"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," the Prime Minister posted on X.

"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. Those who imposed the Emergency have no right to profess their love for our 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.

PM Modi said that the Emergency mindset "is very much alive among the same Party which imposed it. They hide their disdain for the Constitution through their tokenism but the people of India have seen through their antics and that is why they have rejected them time and again," he said.

Social media was flooded with posts from BJP leaders drawing attention to this period as a critique of the Congress party's legacy.