GUWAHATI, June 29: A day after Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma pitched for removing ‘socialism’ and ‘secularism’ from the country’s Constitution, state Congress hit back on Sunday pointing out that the BJP’s own constitution contains the same words he is opposing.
The opposition party questioned Sarma’s remarks, terming it in conflict with the BJP’s own document governing its functioning.
“A person who has taken an oath by the Constitution (of India) and is in such a high position making such comments is unbefitting of his chair. I strongly condemn it,” Leader of Opposition in Assam Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, said.
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Sarma had claimed on Saturday that ‘socialism’ and ‘secularism’ are “Western concepts”, and these words should be struck off the Constitution.
He said these words were included in the Preamble of the Constitution by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi when the country was under Emergency rule, and these have no place in the Indian civilisation.
Hitting back at the BJP leader, Saikia said the saffron party’s own constitution has the words ‘socialism’ and ‘secularism’.
He pointed out that page 1 of the BJP’s 24-page ‘constitution and rules’, as uploaded on its official website, says that the party will bear “true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India” and “to the principles of socialism, secularism…”
“The first page of BJP’s own constitution says it will follow the Constitution of the country and principles of socialism and secularism. After putting these words in their own constitution, I don’t know what could be the reason for opposing it,” the Congress leader asked.
He questioned that if the chief minister, who was an influential Congress leader before switching to the saffron brigade about a decade back, was “upset” with the BJP and is contemplating of shifting to another party. (PTI)
