'Never accepted Constitution': Congress hits back at RSS; cites SC ruling on 'secular, socialist'
Jairam Ramesh and Dattatreya Hosabale (R)
NEW DELHI: Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Friday sharply criticised the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS), saying it has never accepted the Constitution on has been attacking its framers from the very beginning.
His remarks came in response to RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, who a day earlier had said that the words "Socialist" and "Secular" were forcibly added to the Constitution and should now be reconsidered.
In a post on X, Jairam Ramesh said, "The RSS has NEVER accepted the Constitution of India. It attacked Dr. Ambedkar, Nehru, and others involved in its framing from Nov 30, 1949, onwards. In the RSS's own words, the Constitution was not inspired by Manusmriti.
The RSS and the BJP have repeatedly given the call for a new Constitution. This was Mr Modi's campaign cry during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The people of India decisively rejected this cry.
Yet the demands for changing the basic structure of the Constitution continue to be made by the RSS ecosystem."
He also pointed to a Supreme Court judgment from November 2024 that rejected petitions challenging the 42nd Constitutional Amendment, which had inserted the words "Socialist" and "Secular" into the Preamble. Ramesh commented, "The Chief Justice of India himself delivered a judgment on November 25, 2024, on the issue now being raised by a leading RSS functionary. Would it be asking too much to request him to take the trouble to read it?"
The judgment said, "The writ petitions do not require a detailed adjudication as the flaws and weaknesses in the arguments are obvious and manifest.
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Two expressions—'secular' and 'socialist', and the word 'integrity' were inserted in the Preamble vide the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976... The power to amend unquestionably rests with the Parliament. This power to amend extends to the Preamble.
.."
The top court also referenced past landmark rulings, including Kesavananda Bharati v State of Kerala and SR Bommai vs Union of India, which reinforced that secularism is a basic feature of the Constitution.
Ramesh further mentioned that the inclusion of the words was reviewed even after the Emergency, during discussions on the 45th Amendment Bill in 1978.
Meanwhile, Dattatreya Hosabale, while speaking at a program on the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, said,
"The Emergency wasn't just a misuse of power, but an attempt to crush civil liberties. Millions were imprisoned, and freedom of the press was suppressed. He said that those who imposed the Emergency and trampled the Constitution and democracy have never apologised."
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