Bengaluru, 30 June

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said that the party will fight tooth and nail if any word is touched in the Constitution.

He was reacting to RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale's call to review the words 'socialist' and 'secular' in the Preamble.

Speaking to reporters at his house in Bengaluru, Kharge called Hosabale "a man of Manusmriti".

"He doesn't want the poor class people to come up. And what was practiced thousands of years ago, he wants the same to continue. That's why he doesn't like socialism, secularism and liberty, equality and fraternity," the Congress president said.

According to Kharge, this is not only Hosabale's line, but that of the RSS.

Hosabale, while addressing an event on the Emergency recently, said that "the preamble of the Constitution Baba Saheb Ambedkar made never had these words."

"During the Emergency, when fundamental rights were suspended, Parliament did not work, and judiciary became lame, then these words were added."

The RSS leader said discussions were held on this issue later but no effort was made to remove them from the Preamble. "So whether they should remain in the Preamble should be considered," he added.

Kharge said, "RSS is always against the poor people, the downtrodden and Scheduled Caste and other communities. If they are so interested, they could have removed untouchability. They claim they are the champions of the Hindu religion. If they are so, they should remove untouchability."

The Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha also said that RSS should deploy all its volunteers to make sure untouchability is removed and keep the country united. "Instead of that, simply talking, making noise and creating confusion in the country--that is very bad, and we are against it. The party will fight tooth and nail if any word is touched in the Constitution," said Kharge.