‘Assault on soul of Constitution’: Oppn slams RSS' view on Preamble

New Delhi: Several Opposition parties on Friday denounced RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale's call to review the words 'socialist' and 'secular' in the Preamble, terming it a "deliberate assault" on the soul of the Constitution.

The attack came a day after the RSS proposed reviewing the two words, saying they were included during the Emergency and were never part of the Constitution drafted by B R Ambedkar. While the Congress saw it as a "deliberate assault" on the soul of the Constitution and claimed the RSS-BJP had never accepted Ambedkar's Constitution, the CPI(M) said the demand exposes the RSS' long-standing objective of subverting it.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the mask of the RSS has come off again as they want 'Manusmriti'.

CPI(M) leader and Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Hosabale's call is a "brazen attempt to dismantle the core ideals of our Republic". "Invoking the Emergency to discredit these principles is a deceitful move, especially when the RSS colluded with the Indira Gandhi government during that time for its own survival.

To use that period now to undermine the Constitution reflects sheer hypocrisy and political opportunism. "Secularism and socialism are not additions; they define India. Every citizen who believes in democracy must raise their voice against this communal agenda," Vijayan said on X.

The Left parties and RJD alleged that Hosabale's proposal was part of a conspiracy to change the Constitution. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the BJP/RSS attacked Ambedkar, Nehru, and others involved in the framing of the Constitution from November 30, 1949, onwards.

"The RSS and the BJP have repeatedly given the call for a new Constitution. "This was 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," Ramesh said.

The Chief Justice of India himself delivered a judgment on November 25, 2024, on the issue now being raised by a leading RSS functionary, he said. "Would it be asking too much to request him to take the trouble to read it?" Ramesh said. He also shared on X a copy of the judgement.