BJP govt won't alter constitution's preamble or reservation, says Rajnath Singh

Rajnath Singh/ File Photo

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh dismissed charges from the Congress as political posturing, saying that the BJP government has no plans to amend the Constitution or abolish reservations.

Singh attacked the Congress in an interview with PTI for disseminating untrue rumours that the BJP would change the Constitution if it were re-elected. Singh specifically refuted any intention to change the Preamble.

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed anxiety that the BJP could eliminate the phrase "secular," and Singh sought to allay that fear by providing comfort on the Preamble, the PTI report added.

Singh, per the report, emphasised that the BJP would maintain its integrity while pointing out that the Congress had a history of changing the Constitution during the Emergency.

The fundamental ideas of the Indian Constitution are outlined in the Preamble. India's status as a "sovereign democratic republic" was altered to a "sovereign, socialist secular democratic republic" in 1976 by the passage of the 42nd Amendment.

"The Congress brought constitutional amendments 80 times. They changed the Preamble during the Emergency. The BJP will never change the Constitution. Constitution makers never imagined that there would be changes in the Preamble. You (Congress) only acted to hurt the core idea of the Constitution. There is no question of changing the Preamble of the Constitution. They changed it and now they are making baseless allegations against us," Singh added.

"They (Congress) are trying to get peoples' support by instilling fear among the citizens. I would suggest that they should try to get people's support by creating confidence and not by instilling fear. Electoral campaigns should be based on facts," he said.

Regarding reservations, Singh, in an interview with the news agency, vehemently denied the Congress's claims of possible modifications and insisted that the BJP will not alter reservation policies. Singh asked the Congress to stop spreading fear among the populace and instead concentrate on fostering confidence via honest political campaigns. In response to the Congress's request for clarity, Singh stated that there would be no changes made to the 50 per cent reservation quota, the PTI report added.

"The Congress is creating fear psychosis and resorting to spreading misinformation for vote bank politics. The Congress is trying to mislead people. There will not be any end to the reservation. They are making false allegations against us. We will not tinker with the reservation at all," Singh told PTI.