'Preamble not changeable': VP Dhankhar weighs in on Constitution debate; calls for 'reflection'
NEW DELHI: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday called the Preamble as the soul of the constitution.
Speaking at a book launch event, Dhankhar acknowledged that India was the only country where the Preamble had been amended, a reference to the 42nd Amendment enacted during the Emergency in 1976.
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'But this Preamble was changed by the 42nd Constitution (Amendment) Act of 1976,' he said, as quoted by news agency PTI.
'We must reflect. B R Ambedkar did painstaking work on the Constitution and he must have surely focussed on it," PTI quoted the VP saying.
The Vice President's came following comments by RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, who questioned the legitimacy of the inclusion of 'secular' and 'socialist' in the Preamble — a position that has drawn sharp criticism from the opposition.
On Thursday, Hosabale stirred political waters by arguing at an event marking the 50th anniversary of the Emergency that 'secular' and 'socialist' were inserted into the Constitution during a period of authoritarian rule and should now be reviewed. He said these terms were not part of the original draft authored by Dr B R Ambedkar and were forcibly added during a time when civil liberties were crushed and democratic institutions undermined.
BJP leaders including Union ministers Jitendra Singh and Shivraj Singh Chouhan said any 'right-thinking citizen' would support such a review. 'The word secularism was added during the Emergency. It should be removed. The country should think about this,' Chouhan said, arguing that equality of all religions is already the Indian ethos.
Shiv Sena leader Shaina NC echoed the sentiment, suggesting that terms like 'pseudo-secularism' have undermined India's democratic principles.
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Rahul Gandhi: 'RSS wants Manusmriti, not Constitution'
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi accused the RSS-BJP of harbouring a hidden agenda to dismantle the Constitution and deny the poor and marginalised their rights. 'RSS-BJP doesn't want the Constitution. They want Manusmriti. They aim to strip the marginalised and the poor of their rights and enslave them again,' he posted on X.
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh accused the RSS of never accepting the Constitution. 'The RSS has NEVER accepted the Constitution of India... 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,' he posted on X.
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