Congress Vs BJP Over RSS Leader's Call To Remove 'Socialist', 'Secular' From Preamble
The RSS leader's strong call to reconsider the inclusion of the words "socialist" and "secular" in the Preamble sparked sharp reactions from the Congress leaders
A massive political storm erupted after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale called for the removal of the words 'socialist" and 'secular" from the Preamble of the Constitution.
Hosabele's strong call to reconsider the inclusion of the words 'socialist" and 'secular"—added to the Preamble by the Congress government during the Emergency—sparked sharp reactions from the Congress, Samajwadi Party, and other opposition leaders.
The Congress called the RSS leader's remarks a 'long-standing agenda" to reshape the country's democracy, while the BJP argued that words like socialist and secular were never part of the original Constitution document, written by the committee under Dr BR Ambedkar.
'The RSS has always opposed the core values of our constitution – secularism and socialism. Now, their leaders are once again saying these words should be removed from the Preamble. This is not a casual remark – it is part of a long-standing agenda to reshape India's democracy in their ideological image," the Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah wrote on X.
The RSS has always opposed the core values of our Constitution — secularism and socialism. Now, their leaders are once again saying these words should be removed from the Preamble. This is not a casual remark — it is part of a long-standing agenda to reshape India's democracy in… pic.twitter.com/E90dVqaZiF — Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) June 27, 2025
The RSS leader made the remarks on Thursday while lashing out at the Congress for imposing the Emergency 50 years ago.
'Where are our constitutional bodies? What are the activities of the Election Commission itself? Every constitutional body that has been attacked by the BJP and PM Modi. The constitutional values have been under attack. That is why we are undertaking the 'Samvidhan Bachao Yatra,' which has covered around 689 places at the district level," he said.
Echoing the same voice, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also criticised the RSS leader's remark, calling it a 'highly alarming indication for the country's impoverished population."
'Before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, many prominent leaders of the BJP claimed that the party will get 350 seats and they will change the constitution. Due to that, the BJP got only 240 seats. Now, the RSS has started the same debate. There should be no problem with the words secularism and socialism," AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said.
'In the 11 years of the BJP government, all the country's resources have been handed over to capitalists… They are selling everything, privatising it. That is why they have a problem with the word socialism. Because they are worshippers of capitalism… This is a highly alarming indication for the country's impoverished population. Some capitalists get some capital, and they are trying to run the whole country," he added.
BJP Defends Remark
Defending the RSS leader's remark, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said that there is 'no doubt" the words 'secular" and 'socialist" were added to the Preamble through the 45th Amendment.
He noted that Dr BR Ambedkar had crafted one of the world's finest constitutions and questioned the addition of these terms if they were not part of Ambedkar's original vision.
'Any 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's a matter of preserving democratic and constitutional values, and those violating the constitution are actually the biggest violators," Singh added.
Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal also defended the Hosabale remarks, saying: 'BR Ambedkar opposed the inclusion of such terms ('socialist and secular')… Congress neither granted him Bharat Ratna, nor did they properly honor him during his lifetime, and they even fielded candidates against him… They always insulted him."
The Emergency was imposed on June 25, 1975, by the Congress government under then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Spanning 21 months until March 21, 1977, the period was marked by the suspension of civil rights, a severe clampdown on Opposition leaders, and widespread curbs on press freedom.
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Delhi, India, India
First Published:
June 27, 2025, 18:11 IST
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