'Conspiracy to destroy Constitution': Congress slams RSS, BJP over call to review 'Socialist', 'Secular' in Preamble

The Congress party has accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of being "anti-constitutional" after Sangh General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale called for reviewing the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ in the Preamble of the Constitution.

The RSS, the ruling BJP's ideological mentor, on Thursday called for reviewing the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ in the Constitution's Preamble. It said they were added during the Emergency and were never part of the Constitution drafted by BR Ambedkar.

"The preamble of the Constitution, Baba Saheb Ambedkar never had these words. During the Emergency, when fundamental rights were suspended, Parliament did not work, the judiciary became lame, then these words were added," RSS General Secretary Hosabale said, addressing an event Dr Ambedkar International Centre in the national capital on the Emergency. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari was also present at the event.

June 25 marked 50 years of Emergency – a 21-month period from 1975 to 1977 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency across the country by citing internal and external threats to the country.

Last year, Modi government decided to observe June 25, the day the Emergency was declared in 1975, as “Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas” to commemorate the “massive contributions” of those who endured “inhuman pains of the period”,

Hosabale said discussions were held on this issue later, but no effort was made to remove them from the preamble. "So, whether they should remain in the preamble should be considered," he added.

‘Conspiracy to destroy Constitution’

The Congress party responded in a Hindi post on X that it would never allow the BJP-RSS "conspiracy" to succeed and would oppose any such move.

"The thinking of the RSS-BJP is anti-constitutional. Now, RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale has demanded a change in the preamble of the Constitution," the Congress said in a post on X.

"This is a conspiracy to destroy Baba Saheb's Constitution, which the RSS-BJP has been hatching for long," the Congress said.

The opposition party claimed that when the Constitution was implemented, the RSS opposed it and burned its copies. "In the Lok Sabha elections, BJP leaders openly said that they needed more than 400 seats in Parliament to change the Constitution, but the people taught them a lesson.

"Now, once again, they are engaged in their conspiracies, but Congress will not let their intentions succeed at any cost. Hail Constitution," the Congress said.

(With PTI inputs)