‘Secular’, ‘socialist’ removed ‘cleverly’ from Constitution: Adhir Chowdhury
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal says copies carried original version of Preamble and those words were added later to it after constitutional amendments
The words “secular” and “socialist” have been “cleverly removed” from copies of the Constitution given to MPs on the day the new Parliament building opened, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has said.
Terming the matter as serious, Chowdhury expressed doubts over the intentions of the Modi government.
"The Preamble of the Constitution in the copy we carried to the new building does not include the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’. They have been cleverly removed... We will raise this issue," he told reporters.
Chowdhury said he was aware that the words were added in 1976 to the Constitution.
"For me this is a serious issue. I doubt their intentions as their heart does not seem to be clear on this."
The Congress leader in the Lok Sabha said that if someone gives a copy of the Constitution today, it should carry the version as of today.
CPI(M) stand
Binoy Viswam of the CPI-M termed the omission of the words as a "crime". Many opposition MPs, including those from the Left and other parties, are likely to raise the matter.
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, however, said the copies carried the original version of the Preamble of the Constitution and that these words were added later to it after constitutional amendments.
"This is as per the original Preamble,” he asserted.
The Hindi copies of the Constitution, however, had the correct version, which raised questions about whether the change in the English version was inadvertent or deliberate.
(With agency inputs)
