BJP cites Indira's push for changing Constitution to hit back at Congress

New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday cited the then prime minister Indira Gandhi's comments questioning the usefulness of the Indian Constitution and her assertion of changing it to hit back at the Congress amid a row over the RSS' stand that the presence of terms like "socialist" and "secular" in the Preamble should be reviewed.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said the Congress should not divert from the Emergency-era excesses on people and tender an apology. As the country observed the 50th anniversary of Emergency, it is imperative to discuss the sufferings the then government inflicted on people so that it is never repeated, he told reporters.

He cited media reports of that period which quoted Indira Gandhi from her press conference and address to convey her critical take on the Constitution.

She once spoke in favour of making basic changes in the Constitution and asked, at another occasion, if it serves democracy.

Sweeping amendments were made in the Constitution during the 21-month period of the Emergency when people's fundamental rights were suspended and the executive was given vast powers with little judicial recourse.

However, the subsequent Janata Party government undid most of the amendments.

RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabole's recent demand that the inclusion of terms like socialist and secular to define India in the Constitution's Preamble during the Emergency should be reviewed, has triggered a row with opposition parties claiming that it shows the Hindutva organisation's distrust in the country's guiding document.