Oppn livid with Hosabale remark on Preamble

SEVERAL Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, denounced on Friday RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale's call to review the words 'socialist' and 'secular' in the Constitution's Preamble, terming it a 'deliberate assault' on the soul of the Constitution.

- PREETHA NAIR & PARVEZ SULTAN @ New Delhi

Lashing out at the BJP and RSS, Rahul said the RSS preference for the "Manusmriti" over the Constitution has been exposed once again.

The response came after the RSS leader proposed reviewing the two words on Thursday, saying they were included during the Emergency and were never part of the Constitution drafted by B R Ambedkar.

"The RSS and BJP do not want the Constitution, they want 'Manusmriti'. They aim to strip the marginalized and poor of their rights and enslave them again. Snatching a powerful weapon like the Constitution from them is their real agenda," Rahul asserted, adding, "The RSS should stop dreaming this dream — we will never let it succeed. Every patriotic Indian will defend the Constitution until their last breath."