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Congress to boycott Constitution review panel

The Congress will organise a nationwide boycott and protest similar to the anti-Simon Commission movement of 1927, against the M N Venkatachelliah Commission set up by the central government to review the Constitution, spokesman Ajit Jogi said today.

Terming the government's decision to review the Constitution "politically motivated", Jogi told reporters in Bombay that the Congress would mobilise public opinion and shower the commission with letters and telegrams asking it to "wind up" since its aim is to "insult" the memory of stalwarts like Dr B R Ambedkar.

The NDA government is using the commission to effect changes in the Constitution with the intention of taking away the rights of the dalits, minorities and adivasis, Jogi alleged, and said no one could take the BJP's assurance that the "basic structure of the Constitution would be kept intact".

He said the notification instituting the National Commission to Review the Constitution had not specified or fixed its terms of reference, thus leaving "unlimited scope" for changes.

The Congress spokesman, referring to the notification issued by the commission inviting suggestions from the people, said it was likely that the NCRC would give precedence to the proposals received via e-mail as it had advertised its Web site in a big way. "This is another attempt to ignore rural India and give weightage of the organised urban public opinion in the proposed review," Jogi said.

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