Overview

• RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale called for a review of the Preamble’s Emergency-era additions, labeling the inclusion of ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ as products of an illegitimate Parliament.
• Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar described these words as a “festering wound” and urged their removal, a stance quickly echoed by senior BJP ministers.
• Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge pledged to fight “tooth and nail” against any attempt to alter the Constitution’s Preamble.
• Supreme Court rulings, including Kesavananda Bharati and Minerva Mills, have affirmed ‘socialism’ and ‘secularism’ as part of the Constitution’s basic structure and dismissed recent challenges.
• Formal amendment efforts remain unlikely without clear endorsement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Home Minister Amit Shah, prompting opposition leaders to plan leveraging upcoming state elections for pressure.