BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday hit out at RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale for pitching for the removal of the terms ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ from the Preamble of the Constitution.
“This is not a casual remark. It is part of a long-standing agenda to reshape India’s democracy in their ideological image,” Siddaramaiah said, adding that the statement has come from a leader of the RSS, which is like the high command for the BJP. “I urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express his views in this regard to the nation,” Siddaramaiah added.
The CM said that when the Constitution was formed, the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ were not there in the Preamble. But then, RSS started targeting on secularism and socialism, and the then PM Indira Gandhi had to amend and included these two words, which has been accepted by people,” he said.
The CM alleged that RSS refused to accept the Constitution when it was adopted. “Then RSS chief MS Golwalkar praised the Manusmriti as a more authentic guide for India’s culture and rejected democracy and equality as Western imports. This is the organisation now claiming to protect Indian values,” Siddaramaiah added. He said before asking others to apologise for history, RSS must first explain why it rejected the very Constitution that protects the rights of all Indians today.
Further, the CM said that in the recent elections, BJP leaders openly said they needed 400 seats to rewrite the Constitution. “The people of India saw through that agenda - and gave them a resounding answer. Congress will stand like a rock against any attempt to weaken or rewrite the Constitution. We will defend its values - secularism, social justice, and democracy - with full strength and conviction,” he added.
Meanwhile, BJP hit out at Siddaramaiah and said CM’s obsessive hatred for RSS-BJP only exposes his deep fear and insecurity towards a nationalist organisation that has actually stood up for India’s Constitution, unlike the Congress, which has repeatedly tried to rewrite, distort, and destroy it.
In its social media X, the Karnataka BJP said that, “It was RSS-BJS that stood their ground during Indira Gandhi’s Emergency, while your party jailed citizens, crushed dissent, & dismantled fundamental rights. From Nehru to Indira, Rajiv to Sonia, your party has consistently abused constitutional power, rigging institutions, suppressing democracy and weakening justice.” The BJP said that RSS and BJP will continue to safeguard the Constitution, will continue to stand with Dalits, Adivasis and will never allow the “Gandhis to hijack India’s democracy again”.