Guwahati, June 28 (UNI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday urged the Union government to drop the words 'Secular' and 'Socialist' from the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.

Speaking at the launch of ‘The Emergency Diary’, a book chronicling the resistance against the 1975 Emergency- with a focus on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political journey during that period- Sarma called for a “complete ideological purge” of what he described as remnants of the Indira Gandhi era.

“These terms were not part of the original Constitution drafted by the framers under Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. They were imposed during the Emergency through the 42nd Amendment and do not reflect India’s civilizational ethos,” Sarma stated.

“This is the right moment to wipe out all legacies of the Emergency. Just as the Prime Minister is removing colonial-era laws and symbols, we must also remove ideological insertions that do not belong to our roots.”

The 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, enacted in 1976 at the height of the emergency introduced the terms ‘Secular’ and ‘Socialist’ to the Preamble.

Sarma argued that the word ‘secular’ is inconsistent with the Indian philosophy of ‘Sarva Dharma Sambhava’, which emphasizes equal respect for all faiths.

On ‘socialism’, he asserted that India’s economic foundation has always been based on Gandhian principles of ‘Sarvodaya’ (welfare of all) and ‘Antyodaya’ (upliftment of the last person), rather than state-driven socialism.

“These two words- Socialism and Secularism- were never part of the original Constitution. They were added during an era of constitutional distortion and political overreach. I request the Government of India to remove them and restore the true spirit of our foundational document,” Sarma declared.

UNI ABI RKM