‘Socialist', ‘secular' in Preamble: Shivraj, MoS Singh back Hosabale, Opposition slams remark

Indian Express

10 hours ago

A day after RSS Sarkaryavaha Dattatreya Hosabale called for a discussion on whether the words 'socialist' and 'secular', inserted in the Preamble of the Constitution during the Emergency, should remain there, Union Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Dr Jitendra Singh threw their weight behind the idea even as leaders of the Congress and other Opposition parties criticised Hosabale's remark.
There was no comment from the BJP on the RSS leader's suggestion. Sudhanshu Trivedi, the party's national spokesperson, attacked the Congress for being 'behind every act of tampering with the Constitution and its spirit' over the last seven decades, and said it should apologise for the Emergency.
The LJP, which is part of the ruling alliance, was the only NDA partner to respond to Hosabale's remark. 'If this issue is brought before the alliance, we will oppose it. We are protectors of socialism and secularism,' LJP national vice president A K Bajpayi said.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan's office shared a video of the minister addressing a press conference Friday in Varanasi where he said, 'Sarva Dharma Sambhav Bharatiya sanskriti ka mool hai. Dharm nirpeksh hamari sanskriti ka mool nahin hai. Isliye ispar zaroor vichaar hona chahiye ki aapaatkaal mein jis dharm nirpeksh shabd ko joda gaya usko hataya jaaye.'
('The core of Indian culture is Sarva Dharma Sambhav (equal respect for all religions) and not dharm nirpeksh (secular). Therefore, there must be a discussion on the removal of the word dharm nirpeksh that was added during the Emergency.')
On socialism, Chouhan said that to believe everyone else to be like oneself is a core Indian thought. That this world is a family (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam) is the core thought of India, he said.
'There is no need for socialism here. We have said for long that all should be treated alike. So, the word socialism is also not needed, and the country should certainly think about this,' he said.
In Jammu, Minister of State Jitendra Singh said he did not think there was 'any second thought' on Hosabale's remark. 'Hosabale ji has stated that the words 'secular' and 'socialist' were added to our Preamble after the 42nd amendment as these were not given by Babasaheb Ambedkar,'' he said.
Pointing out that Dr B R Ambedkar crafted 'one of the best Constitutions of the world'', Singh said 'if it was not his thinking, then with what thought someone added these words'.
Asked whether the BJP endorsed the demand for the removal of the words 'secular' and 'socialist', Singh said, 'Who doesn't want to? Every right-thinking citizen will endorse it because everyone knows they are not part of the original Constitution document, which Dr Ambedkar and the rest of the committee wrote.'
'It is not a question of BJP vs non-BJP,'' he said, adding 'it is the question of preserving the democratic values and the constitutional values''.
He said the Emergency was not a sudden aberration but rather the cumulative result of the Congress ideological foundation, and accused the party of being rooted in nepotism, authoritarianism and opportunism, always placing its own interests above that of the country.
Referring to Hosabale's remark, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said the 'RSS mask' has 'come off again', and that the Constitution troubles them 'because it speaks of equality, secularism and justice'.
In a post on X in Hindi, Gandhi said the 'RSS-BJP' combine 'wants Manusmriti' and is out to deprive the marginalised and the poor of their rights. 'Their real agenda is to snatch away a powerful weapon like the Constitution from them,' he said.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said: 'Invoking the Emergency to discredit these principles is a deceitful move, especially when the RSS colluded with the Indira Gandhi government during that time for its own survival… To use that period now to undermine the Constitution reflects sheer hypocrisy and political opportunism.'
BJP's Trivedi was quoted by news agency PTI saying, 'The BJP has been raising the issue of flagrant violations of people's fundamental rights and atrocities committed by the Congress government during the Emergency, and has demanded an apology from the Congress. But the party is not ready to apologise and is instead diverting the issue.'
'It is the Congress which is behind every act of tampering with the Constitution and its spirit in the last over 70 years. The Congress must apologise instead of spreading confusion,' he said.
Vikas Pathak is deputy associate editor with The Indian Express and writes on national politics. He has over 17 years of experience, and has worked earlier with The Hindustan Times and The Hindu, among other publications. He has covered the national BJP, some key central ministries and Parliament for years, and has covered the 2009 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and many state assembly polls. He has interviewed many Union ministers and Chief Ministers.
Vikas has taught as a full-time faculty member at Asian College of Journalism, Chennai; Symbiosis International University, Pune; Jio Institute, Navi Mumbai; and as a guest professor at Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi.
Vikas has authored a book, Contesting Nationalisms: Hinduism, Secularism and Untouchability in Colonial Punjab (Primus, 2018), which has been widely reviewed by top academic journals and leading newspapers.
He did his PhD, M Phil and MA from JNU, New Delhi, was Student of the Year (2005-06) at ACJ and gold medalist from University Rajasthan College in Jaipur in graduation. He has been invited to top academic institutions like JNU, St Stephen's College, Delhi, and IIT Delhi as a guest speaker/panellist. ... Read More