Key Points

Speaking at a book release function at the Vice President’s residence, the VP said, “The Preamble is the soul of the Constitution. It was disfigured during the darkest phase of Indian democracy – the Emergency – when terms like ‘Socialist’, ‘Secular’, and ‘Integrity’ were inserted under coercion.”

Calling the 42nd Amendment “an unjust and illegitimate act,” the VP said, “We altered something that should never have been changed. And that too, not by the will of the people but at a time when the people, the source of power, were behind bars.”

Resonating with long-standing RSS criticism of the secular and socialist labels, the Vice President remarked that no other country in the world has tampered with the Preamble of its Constitution and described the 1976 additions as "a betrayal of our civilisational ethos and the intentions of our Constitution makers."

Quoting from landmark Supreme Court judgments like Kesavananda Bharati and Golaknath, he reminded the audience that the apex court has always treated the Preamble as the guiding light of the Constitution.

Referring to B.R. Ambedkar as a “visionary who lives in our soul,” the Vice President said the sanctity of the Constitution must be preserved and warned against the growing political polarisation and caste-based divisions that threaten India’s unity.

The remarks given by the Vice President are likely to intensify the ongoing debate around restoring the ‘original Preamble’, a demand growing louder in saffron circles.

RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on Thursday triggered a political storm when he demanded the removal of the terms ‘socialism’ and ‘secularism’ from the Preamble of the Constitution, alleging that they were inserted “forcibly” during the Emergency period.

Since then, opposition parties, including Congress and other national and regional parties, have upped their ante against the RSS for pushing a narrative which has long been brewing in the saffron camps for decades.

- IANS