New Delhi [India], June 27 : Congress leader and Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi on Friday came down heavily on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), saying that it doesn't want the Constitution but the Manusmriti.
Intensifying his attack, Gandhi said that RSS intended to violate the rights of the marginalised and the poor while enslaving them. "The mask of RSS has come off again," he added.
"RSS-BJP doesn't want the Constitution. They want Manusmriti. 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," the Congress leader posed on X.
"The Constitution irks them because it speaks of equality, secularism, and justice," he added.
Gandhi asserted that Congress would resist the dreams of RSS to "snatch" the constitution from the marginalised and the poor.
"RSS should stop dreaming this dream - we will never let them succeed. Every patriotic Indian will defend the Constitution until their last breath," he said.
His remarks come after RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale suggested reconsidering the inclusion of the terms "socialist" and "secular" in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.
Hosabale was addressing a program on the 50th anniversary of the emergency, held at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre, jointly organised by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (under the Ministry of Culture) and the Ambedkar International Centre.
Speaking at the event, he emphasised that the emergency wasn't just a misuse of power but an attempt to crush civil liberties. Millions were imprisoned, and freedom of the press was suppressed. He said that those who imposed the emergency and trampled the constitution and democracy have never apologised. If they cannot apologise personally, they should do so on behalf of their ancestors.
He remarked that during the emergency, terms like "socialist" and "secular" were forcibly inserted into the Constitution -- a move that needs to be reconsidered.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today said that Hosabale's suggestion was not a "casual remark" but a "long-standing agenda" to reshape the country's democracy.
However, Union Minister Jitendra Singh defended Hosabale, stating that any "right-thinking person" would endorse such a demand, as these terms were not part of the original Constitution.
"Any right-thinking citizen will endorse it because everyone knows they are not part of the original constitution, which Dr Ambedkar and the rest of the committee wrote. This is not the question of BJP vs non-BJP...It is a matter of preserving democratic and constitutional values, and those violating the constitution are actually the biggest violators," Singh told reporters here.
He pointed out that "secular and socialist" were added after the 42nd amendment to the constitution, which means that it was not Dr Ambedkar who thought of including these terms.