Neither secular, nor socialist: India is neither secular nor socialist

Abstract

Mrs India Gandhi added two words to the Preamble of the Indian Constitution: “secular” and “socialist”. But India is neither. It is a caricature of both. The Congress Party, under Mrs Indira Gandhi, succeeded in adding two words to the Preamble of the Indian constitution in 1976. This was effectively the substance of the 42nd amendment of the Indian Constitution. The two words were “secular” and “socialist”.

Mrs Gandhi at that time enjoyed a brute majority in Parliament. In retrospect, it is clear it was done for political reasons. The 1970s were by far the worst years of the Indian political system. It might be termed as the decade of the public sector coupled with Mrs Gandhi’s honeymoon with the Communists and India’s marked tilt towards the erstwhile Soviet model. The addition of these two terms into the Preamble was prompted by a desire for legitimacy by the Congress to establish its allegedly secular and pro-poor credentials. Read more at: https://swarajyamag.com/politics/neither-secular-nor-socialist