Rahul Gandhi Slams RSS Over Preamble Debate
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Rahul Gandhi hits out at RSS for questioning ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ in Constitution, accusing it of pushing the Manusmriti agenda.”They want to snatch the Constitution from the poor and marginalised,” he said.
New Delhi: Today, on June 27, In a fresh political clash, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has strongly criticised the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) after its call to hold a debate on the words “secular” and “socialist” in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.
These words were added during the Emergency in 1976 through the 42nd Amendment under the leadership of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
On Friday, Rahul Gandhi reacted to the RSS’ recent comments by attacking their ideological stance and intentions behind questioning the Preamble. Posting on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), the Congress MP said,
“The mask of the RSS has come off again.”
He accused the RSS and the BJP of being uncomfortable with the ideals of the Constitution, saying,
“The Constitution irks them because it speaks of equality, secularism, and justice. The RSS-BJP don’t want the Constitution… they want the Manusmriti.”
Further criticising the RSS, Mr. Gandhi said,
“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.”
He also issued a warning to the RSS, adding,
“The RSS should stop dreaming this dream – we will never let them succeed…”
This political controversy was reignited after RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale recently demanded a “debate” on whether the terms “secular” and “socialist” should remain in the Constitution’s Preamble.
His statement came just as the BJP intensified its criticism of the Congress for the Emergency imposed in 1975, calling into question the circumstances under which these words were added.
Critics of the 1976 amendment argue that since it was done during the Emergency — a time when democratic processes were severely restricted — there remains a legal and moral debate over the legitimacy of adding these terms.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh was the first to respond on behalf of the party. Taking to X, he pointed out that the Supreme Court had already delivered a clear verdict on the matter.
He said,
“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?”
This refers to the judgment by a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, which was headed by then-Chief Justice Sanjiv Kumar.
In that ruling, the court reaffirmed that
“secularism is a basic feature of the Constitution,”
a principle upheld in landmark cases like Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973) and SR Bommai v. Union of India (1994).
Regarding the term “socialist”, the Court clarified that its inclusion in the Preamble should not be misunderstood as being limited to economic policy.
Instead, it said that
“‘socialist’ denotes the State’s commitment to be a Welfare state… ensuring equality of opportunity and social justice.”
Additionally, the Court noted that the petitions challenging the inclusion of these words were filed in 2020, decades after the amendment was made.
It observed that filing such petitions
“44 years after the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ became integral to the Preamble” made the case “particularly questionable.”
The Congress party has consistently alleged that the BJP intends to change the core structure of the Constitution. This was made a key issue by the Congress in the run-up to last year’s Lok Sabha elections.
Rahul Gandhi even began carrying a red-bound copy of the Constitution during his campaign events, often raising it in his hand during speeches to make a point.
In response to these allegations, the BJP has firmly denied any such intentions. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in an interview with NDTV, said the party had no plan to alter the Constitution.
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He explained that the BJP had already been in power with a large majority but never attempted to make such changes.
According to him,
the BJP had won two consecutive elections with clear majorities, and each time, the party could have changed the Constitution but chose not to.
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