By The Sampadak Express
Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has supported the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) recent suggestion to reconsider the inclusion of the terms ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. Speaking at an event in Varanasi to mark 50 years of the Emergency, Chouhan said that these concepts do not align with India’s cultural ethos and merit serious debate.“
There is no need for socialism in India. Secularism is not the core of our culture and we should deliberate on this,” Chouhan said.
His remarks echo those made by RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, who, at an event in Delhi commemorating the Emergency, claimed that the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ were inserted during a time when fundamental rights were suspended, and thus were not a part of Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s original draft of the Constitution.“
The Preamble of the Constitution made by Baba Saheb Ambedkar never had these words. They were added during the Emergency when Parliament was dysfunctional and the judiciary was weakened,” Hosabale asserted.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh also lent his support to the RSS’s stance, stating that any “right-thinking citizen” would agree that these terms were not originally part of the Constitution and were added under extraordinary circumstances.
Opposition Slams Remarks
The comments have drawn strong criticism from opposition leaders. Samajwadi Party veteran Rajendra Chaudhary accused the RSS and BJP of trying to undermine India’s democratic foundations.“
These statements clearly show that the BJP and RSS have no faith in democracy and are making deliberate attempts to weaken the Constitution,” he said.
Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai also slammed the remarks, alleging that the BJP-RSS combine has never truly accepted the values enshrined in the Constitution.“
Such statements reaffirm what we’ve always said that the BJP and RSS don’t believe in the Constitution. The Congress will safeguard it at all costs,” Rai declared.
Recalling the Emergency
Chouhan, recounting his own experience during the Emergency, said he was just 16 when he was arrested under the Defence of India Rules.“
Even today I get goosebumps remembering those dark days. It wasn’t just bullets that were fired on the people, it was the murder of the Constitution,” he said, referring to incidents like the Turkman Gate demolition and suppression of dissent.
He accused the Congress of authoritarianism, stating that civil liberties, press freedom, and judicial independence were crushed during the Emergency.“
It was dictatorship in its worst form. The Congress turned the entire nation into a prison,” he added.
Without naming Rahul Gandhi, Chouhan took a swipe at the Congress leader for frequently invoking the Constitution in his public speeches.“
Those flaunting the Constitution today have no moral right to do so. If the Congress wants to understand democracy, it should learn from Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.
Chouhan concluded by asserting that democracy is ingrained in the BJP’s philosophy, unlike the Congress, which he accused of historically undermining it.“
Prime Minister Modi celebrates Constitution Day every year. That’s because democracy is in BJP’s nature. The Congress, which once killed democracy, must apologise to the nation,” he said.
