Debate on Constitution Reforms Resurfaces Amid 50th Emergency Anniversary

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi has critiqued the significant changes made to India's Constitution during the Emergency imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, suggesting that half the Constitution had been altered. He indirectly addressed Rahul Gandhi for frequently brandishing the Constitution in public without acknowledging any remorse over past modifications.

The comments came on the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, marked on June 25th at a seminar. The discourse extends as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Dattatreya Hosabale advises reconsidering 'socialist' and 'secular' terms in the Indian Constitution's Preamble, provoking reactions from the Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav. Yadav suggests such moves are a veiled attempt to undermine social justice and reservation policies.

Hosabale's remarks were made during an event commemorating the Emergency's 50th anniversary, co-hosted by the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre and the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. He accused the period of not only being a power abuse but an era that diminished civil liberties, forcibly inserting terms now up for debate.

(With inputs from agencies.)