New Delhi, 22 December
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh today said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his allies have launched a ‘sharp attack’ on Indira Gandhi over the 42nd Amendment but did not mention that Indira met with other Congress MPs. K had voted in favor of the 44th Amendment. Through the 44th Amendment, many of the provisions brought in by the 42nd Amendment were removed.
Ramesh said that the Prime Minister and his aides did not even mention the fact that many of the provisions of the 42nd Amendment have been retained almost half a century after its enactment.
In a post on social media platform ‘X’, he said, “During the discussion on the Constitution, the Prime Minister and his allies attacked Indira Gandhi for the 42nd Amendment passed by Parliament in December 1976, but why did she do it?” Not to mention that Indira along with other Congress MPs voted in favor of the 44th Amendment in December 1978 when Morarji Desai was the Prime Minister.
He said that through the 42nd constitutional amendment introduced by the Indira Gandhi government in 1976, the words socialist and secular were added to the preamble of the constitution. The amendment changed the reference to India in the preamble from ‘sovereign, democratic republic’ to ‘sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic’. Ramesh said that the 44th Amendment removed many of the provisions brought in by the 42nd Amendment. -News-Patiala