UP, Assam CMs attack Congress for adding ‘secular, socialist’ in preamble | India News – Times of India

LUCK/GUWAHATI: UP CM Yogi Adityanath accused Congress on Tuesday of “strangling” the Constitution by including “secular” and “socialist” in the preamble, words that do not appear in the statute drafted by BR Ambedkar. Yogi’s BJP colleague and Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma made a similar comment, suggesting that the word “secular” need not have been added later as that quality was “already inherent” in Indian civilization.
Both CMs spoke at events to mark Constitution Day. “The original Constitution, drafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar, did not contain the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’. Congress added them during the emergency. People have taught a befitting lesson to those who betrayed the Constitution,” Yogi said in Lucknow.
In this year’s LS polls, the Congress and its allies had accused the BJP of planning to amend the Constitution, a factor that many concluded had eroded the BJP’s vote share. In Guwahati, Sarma said the Constituent Assembly had determined that there was no need to show that Indian civilization was secular.