New Delhi: The Indian National Congress has strongly criticized the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for demanding a review of the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. Congress accused the RSS of never accepting Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s vision and being part of a long-standing effort to undermine the Constitution.
The controversy erupted after RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, while addressing an event in Delhi marking 50 years of the Emergency, said that the terms “socialist” and “secular” were inserted during the Emergency period in 1976 and were not part of the original Constitution drafted by Dr. Ambedkar. Hosabale urged for a public reconsideration of these terms and demanded an apology from the Congress for the imposition of the Emergency and associated constitutional changes.
Reacting sharply, Congress General Secretary in-charge of Communications Jairam Ramesh alleged that the RSS has “never accepted the Constitution of India” and is now pushing for changes that would distort its core values.
“This is not just an attack on a few words. It is a deliberate assault on the soul of the Constitution. The RSS and BJP have always been uncomfortable with the values of pluralism, social justice, and secularism that define India,” Ramesh said in a statement.
The Congress party, in a post on social media platform X, further claimed that this is part of the RSS-BJP’s broader ideological agenda to reshape the Constitution to fit their political narrative. It also referenced the 2024 Supreme Court verdict which upheld the inclusion of “socialist” and “secular” in the Preamble, reaffirming Parliament’s authority to make such amendments.
The terms were added through the 42nd Constitutional Amendment during the Emergency under then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The amendment has faced criticism from some quarters for being introduced during a period when democratic institutions were under stress.
Legal experts and constitutional scholars have repeatedly pointed out that while these words were not originally in the Preamble, the ideas of secularism and social equity were deeply embedded in the Constitution’s structure.
The debate is expected to intensify in the coming days, with political observers seeing this as a larger ideological battle between forces advocating constitutional continuity and those seeking to reinterpret foundational values.
