‘Secular’, ‘socialist’ missing from Constitution copies

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in the Lok Sabha. File Pic/PTI

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday alleged that the words "secular" and "socialist" were missing from the Preamble in the copies of the Constitution given to lawmakers on the opening day of the new Parliament building. However, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal 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. Amendments were made later," he asserted.

"The Preamble of the Constitution in the copy that we carried to the new building does not include the words secular and socialist. They have been cleverly removed...this is a serious matter and we will raise this issue," he told reporters, terming the matter serious. The Congress Leader of the House in Lok Sabha also said that if someone gives a copy of the Constitution today, it should carry the version of it as of today.

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