Now, 'secular' and 'socialist' missing from Rajya Sabha calendar

New Delhi, Jan 30: Days after a row over non-inclusion of words like ‘Socialist' and ‘Secular' from Government ads on Republic Day, the Preamble controversy has now reached the portals of Parliament.

The latest calendar published by Rajya Sabha also carries the picture of the Preamble without the key words "secular" and "socialist".

Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha has defended its calendar, saying that it was not a mistake. Gurdeep Sappal, OSD to Vice-President Hamid Ansari said that the calendar is part of the history and heritage series which reproduces the original historical document hand calligraphed volume of the Constitution by Nandalal Bose, says an India Today report.

The report further said that there is only one original, handmade, decorative and commemorative document of the Preamble which doesn't include these two words - Secular and Socialist -as in 1950 they weren't part of the Constitution.

"It is the 42nd Amendment, brought in during Emergency by Mrs Indira Gandhi, which changed the Preamble," says the report.A day after row erupted over a Republic Day advertisement of Information and Broadcasting Ministry, the Shiv Sena demanded "permanent deletion" of the words 'secular' and 'socialist' from the Constitution.

"We welcome the exclusion of the (secular and socialist) words from the Republic Day advertisement. Though it might have been done inadvertently, it is like honouring the feelings of the people of India. If these words were deleted by mistake this time, they should be deleted from the Constitution permanently," Sena MP Sanjay Raut said.

OneIndia News