“Socialist, Secular” Missing In Constitution’s New Copies: Adhir Chowdhury

New Delhi:

The leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, raised concerns over the alleged attack on the constitution by saying that new copies of the Constitution that were handed to the politicians on the opening day of the new Parliament building don’t have the words ‘socialist secular’. 

“The new copies of the Constitution that were given to us today (19th September), the one we held in our hands and entered (the new Parliament building), its Preamble doesn’t have the words ‘socialist secular’,” he said while speaking to ANI on Tuesday.   

He further added, “We know that the words were added after an amendment in 1976, but if someone gives us the Constitution today and it doesn’t have those words, it is a matter of concern.”

He alleged, “Their intention is suspicious. It has been done cleverly. It is a matter of concern for me.”

Mr Chowdhury said, “I tried to raise this issue, but I did not get an opportunity to raise this issue.”

Earlier While speaking in the Lok Sabha at the new Parliament complex on the second day of the five-day special session on Tuesday, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that nobody should try to create an unnecessary rift between ‘India’ and ‘Bharat’ as there is no difference between the two as per the Constitution of India.

“This Constitution is no less than the Gita, Quran, and Bible for us. Article 1 says, “India, that is, Bharat, shall be a Union of States…” It means that there is no difference between India and Bharat. It will be better if nobody tries to unnecessarily create a rift between the two,” he said.  

The controversy was triggered after the invitation for the G20 dinner was sent out in the name of the President of ‘Bharat’ and not India.  

The debate started after Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan shared on X, formerly Twitter, a G20 dinner invite in which Droupadi Murmu was described as ‘President of Bharat’.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)