New Delhi: The Congress seized on Dattatreya Hosabale’s call to review the terms “secular” and “socialist” in the Preamble to inject fresh momentum into its campaign, portraying the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as forces bent on undermining the Constitution and the rights of the marginalized.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, whose allegation that the BJP would rewrite the Constitution had become the lynchpin of the Opposition’s Lok Sabha election campaign, Friday posted on ‘X’ the “mask of RSS has come off again”. The party called it a “deliberate assault on the soul of our Constitution”.
“The Constitution irks them because it speaks of equality, secularism, and justice. RSS-BJP doesn’t want the Constitution; they want Manusmriti. They aim to strip the marginalized and the poor of their rights and enslave them again. Snatching a powerful weapon like the Constitution from them is their real agenda. RSS should stop dreaming this dream – we will never let them succeed. Every patriotic Indian will defend the Constitution until their last breath,” Rahul stated.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha campaign slogan ‘Abki Baar, 400 Paar’—which was an appeal to people to help the BJP win over 400 seats in Parliament—was held up as a threat to the Constitution by the Opposition, including Rahul.
“In the Lok Sabha elections, BJP leaders did not even hide their intent. They declared openly that they needed over 400 seats to rewrite the Constitution. But the people of India saw through their agenda—and gave them a resounding answer. Now, they have returned to their old playbook. But let it be known: Congress will stand as an unbreakable wall against any attempt to undermine the Constitution,” the Congress party said in a statement.
At a book release event to mark the 50th anniversary of the imposition of Emergency Thursday, Hosabale said there should be reflection on whether the terms ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ should feature in the Preamble as they were added through the 42nd amendment during the Emergency.
To counter the RSS general secretary, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh cited a 25 November, 2024 judgment of the Supreme Court that had upheld the inclusion of socialist and secular in the Preamble. The SC order had come while dismissing a petition that claimed that the inclusion of these terms amounted to distorting the original Constitution.
“Over time, India has developed its own interpretation of secularism, wherein the State neither supports any religion nor penalizes the profession and practice of any faith. This principle is enshrined in Articles 14, 15, and 16 of the Constitution…The Preamble’s original tenets-equality of status and opportunity; fraternity, ensuring individual dignity-read alongside justice – social, economic, political, and liberty; of thought, expression, belief, faith, and worship, reflect this secular ethos,” the SC had stated.
Ramesh alleged that the Sangh could never accept the Constitution as it “was not inspired by Manusmriti.”
“A senior RSS member surely knows that the Supreme Court declared socialism and secularism to be part of the basic structure of the Constitution. Yet, to take this stand is a clear insult to the Constitution, a rejection of its values, and a direct attack on the Supreme Court of India as well,” Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C.Venugopal posted on ‘X’.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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