Ahmedabad: How old is India's Constitution? This question has sparked widespread debate following a remark by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday at the CWC meeting on the banks of river Sabarmati.

While addressing the Congress Working Committee meeting on Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi held up the red-bound Constitution and stated that it was "not written in 1947 but is 1,000 years old." The comment left many bewildered.

The Congress spokespersons and several intellectuals, however, clarified that Rahul Gandhi was referring to the philosophical underpinnings of the Constitution, not its literal drafting date. They argued that the ideals of equality, justice, and fraternity—as espoused by saints like Guru Nanak and Kabir, Narayanguru Ambedkar, Phule, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru —resonate in the spirit of the Constitution.

The BJP was quick to respond, criticising Gandhi for what they described as another factual error. Party leaders pointed out that the Constitution was neither written in 1947—it was adopted in 1950—nor are Guru Nanak and Kabir from a millennium ago. Both spiritual figures lived approximately 500 to 600 years ago. They said all of them were against caste system. Does Rahul subscribe to it, they asked.

The BJP accused the Congress of paying mere lip service to the Constitution. The party called Gandhi’s statement a "bizarre history lesson" and described it as "the biggest strike on the Samvidhan," suggesting that the Congress was undermining what it claimed to protect.