- Rahul Gandhi criticised the RSS for questioning use of 'secular' and 'socialist' in the Constitution Preamble
- RSS General Secretary Hosabale had called for a debate on retaining 'secular' and 'socialist' in the Preamble
- Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that secularism and socialism are basic features of the Constitution
Rahul Gandhi weighed in Friday on the row over the words 'secular' and 'socialist' in the Preamble to the Constitution. The Congress MP attacked the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh - the ideological mentor of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party - after it called for a 'debate' over retaining the terms.
"The mask of the RSS has come off again," Mr Gandhi said on X, picking up where party comms chief Jairam Ramesh left off this morning. "The Constitution irks them because it speaks of equality, secularism, and justice. The RSS-BJP don't want the Constitution... they want the Manusmriti."
"They aim to strip the marginalised and the poor of their rights and enslave them again. Snatching a powerful weapon like the Constitution from them is their real agenda."
"The RSS should stop dreaming this dream - we will never let them succeed..."
This chapter in the row over the terms 'secular' and 'socialist' - added to the Preamble in 1976 - began after Mr Hosabale's comments Thursday, and as the BJP upped attacks on the Congress over the Emergency imposed by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi a year earlier, i.e., 1975.
Critics of these terms' inclusion believe the political background - Mrs Gandhi's Congress government curtailed Parliament's powers - mean there are questions over the legitimacy of the amendment itself.
RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, demanded a 'debate' be held on retaining the terms.
Jairam Ramesh responded first for the Congress, drawing the RSS leader's attention to a Supreme Court judgement quashing a petition to remove the terms from the Preamble.
"The Chief Justice of India himself delivered a judgment on November 25, 2024, on the issue now being raised by the leading RSS functionary. Would it be asking too much to request him to take the trouble to read it?" the Congress leader posted on X.
The reference was to a ruling by a two-judge bench in November last year; then-Chief Justice Sanjiv Kumar noted that past decisions by the court, including the landmark 1973 Kesavananda Bharti and 1994 SR Bommai cases observed "secularism is a basic feature of the Constitution".
The court similarly defended inclusion of 'socialist' in the Preamble. Its interpretation, it said, "should not be restricted to the economic policies... rather 'socialist' denotes the State's commitment to be a Welfare state... ensuring equality of opportunity and social justice."
The court also pointed out the petitions had been filed in 2020, "... 44 years after the words 'socialist' and 'secular' became integral to the Preamble", and that made the plea "particularly questionable".
READ | "RSS NEVER Accepted Constitution...": Congress On Preamble Row
The Congress has repeatedly accused the BJP of wanting to alter fundamental tenets of the Constitution, a charge it made into a poll issue before last year's federal election.
Mr Gandhi, in fact, began appearing at public events with a small, red-bound copy of the Constitution, which he would wave for emphasis during campaign speeches.
READ | "Had Majority For 10 Years": Amit Shah Denies BJP Will Alter Constitution
The BJP also issued equally repeated denials; Home Minister Amit Shah told NDTV the party had no intention of ever doing that, and pointed out it had already won two consecutive elections.
Each time the party had an overwhelming majority and could have changed the Constitution at will, but did not, Mr Shah told NDTV.
