Rahul Gandhi accuses RSS of favouring Manusmriti over Constitution – ‘mask has come off again’

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on June 27 said the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) mask has come off again as it wants "Manusmriti" and not the Constitution to run the country.

Gandhi's remarks came after RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale sought a review of the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ in the Preamble to the Constitution.

"The mask of RSS has come off again. The Constitution irks them because it speaks of equality, secularism and justice," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X. 

The Manusmriti is a Hindu scripture authored by a medieval ascetic named Manu. It has been widely criticised for its gender and caste-based provisions.

"The RSS, BJP do not want the Constitution; they want 'Manusmriti'. They aim to strip the marginalised and poor of their rights and enslave them again. Snatching a powerful weapon like the Constitution from them is their real agenda," the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha alleged.

"The RSS should stop dreaming this dream -- we will never let it succeed. Every patriotic Indian will defend the Constitution until their last breath," Gandhi asserted.

"The Preamble to the Constitution of Baba Saheb Ambedkar never had these words. During the Emergency, when fundamental rights were suspended, Parliament did not work, the judiciary became lame, then these words were added," he said, speaking at an event in the national capital.

Hosabale said discussions were held on this issue later, but no effort was made to remove those words from the Preamble. Therefore, he added, whether those words should remain in the Preamble should be considered.

"The Preamble is eternal. Are the thoughts of socialism as an ideology eternal for India?" Hosabale asked.

June 25 marked 50 years of Emergency –-  a 21-month period from 1975 to 1977 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency across the country by citing internal and external threats to the country.

Last year, the Narendra Modi government decided to observe June 25, the day the Emergency was declared in 1975, as “Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas” to commemorate the “massive contributions” of those who endured “inhuman pains of the period”.

(With agency inputs)