Rajya Sabha MP Calls for Removing ‘Secular’ and ‘Socialist’ from Constitution’s Preamble

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Bhim Singh has introduced a Private Member’s Bill seeking to remove the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ from the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. Singh argued that these terms were never part of the original Constitution and were inserted during the Emergency in 1976 without proper debate.

Speaking about The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2025, introduced on Friday in the Rajya Sabha, Singh said that the two words create “confusion” and should not remain in the Preamble. He claimed that the 42nd Amendment, which added the terms, was passed at a time when most opposition leaders were jailed, and Parliament was not functioning in a democratic environment.

Singh said that even the Constituent Assembly had discussed these ideas and ultimately decided not to include the words. He pointed out that Dr BR Ambedkar had explained that the Constitution’s structure already ensures secularism, and therefore the word did not need to be explicitly added. Ambedkar had also stated that the Constitution should not bind future generations to any fixed economic or political ideology, including socialism.

According to Singh, the ideas of welfare, poverty reduction and fair distribution of wealth were already included in the Constitution, without the need to label it as “socialist”.

He alleged that the words were included for “appeasement politics” during the Emergency—claiming that “socialist” was added to please the then USSR, while “secular” was included to appease Muslims. Singh said that removing these terms would not affect any fundamental rights or other constitutional provisions.

When asked about the chances of the Bill passing, Singh acknowledged that Private Member’s Bills rarely become law but stressed that the aim was to draw the attention of the government and the public to the issue. He questioned why these terms were considered necessary if India was already secular before 1976 under leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri.

A Private Member’s Bill is a proposal moved by a parliamentarian who is not a minister. In India’s parliamentary history, only 14 such bills have ever become law, and none have been cleared by both Houses since 1970.