New Delhi, Sept 20: Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury raised concerns on Wednesday, asserting that the words “secular” and “socialist” were conspicuously absent from the Preamble in the copies of the Constitution distributed to lawmakers during the inauguration of the new Parliament building.
In response, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal clarified that the copies contained the original version of the Constitution’s Preamble, with the mentioned words added later through constitutional amendments. He emphasized, “This is as per the original Preamble. Amendments were made later.”
Chowdhury deemed this a serious issue, alleging that the words had been “cleverly removed” and expressing doubts about the intentions of the BJP government. He told reporters, “The Preamble of the Constitution in the copy that we carried to the new building does not include the words secular and socialist. They have been cleverly removed…this is a serious matter, and we will raise this issue.”
Chowdhury acknowledged that he was aware these words were added in 1976 to the Constitution. He expressed his concerns about the government’s sincerity on this matter, saying, “For me, this is a serious issue. I doubt their intentions as their heart does not seem to be clear on this.”
Additionally, as per Binoy Viswam of the CPI, the omission of these words is considered a “crime.” Several opposition MPs, including those from various parties, are expected to address this matter during their meeting.
