Youth Congress files police complaint against RSS leader over Constitution remarks
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The Karnataka unit of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) Legal Cell has filed a formal police complaint against Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale over his recent comments suggesting the removal of the words “socialist” and “secular” from the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.
The complaint was submitted on Sunday at Sheshadripuram Police Station by IYC Legal Cell Chairman Sridhar, Co-Chairman Samrudh Hegde, and other advocates and office-bearers.
They alleged that Hosabale's remarks, made during a public event commemorating the Emergency on June 26, undermine the constitutional values enshrined in the Preamble.
Sridhar, in an accompanying letter, stated: “On 26th June 2025, while addressing a public gathering commemorating the Emergency, Mr. Hosabale openly stated that the words 'socialist' and 'secular' in the Preamble to the Constitution should be reconsidered and removed. These remarks, made at a politically sensitive event by a high-ranking ideologue of an organisation, are not just ideational commentary.”
He further urged authorities to take the matter seriously: “Such attempts to publicly erode constitutional values must be treated with utmost seriousness and urgency. A clear message must be sent that no one is above the Constitution, and any public advocacy of unconstitutional means or dismantling of constitutional principles will face due process of law.”
Earlier the same day, CPI(M) MP Sandosh Kumar also took a strong stance, writing a letter to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. In it, he criticised the remarks by Hosabale and called on the RSS to uphold the spirit of the Constitution. Kumar emphasised that secularism and socialism are not arbitrary additions, but values born from India’s struggle for freedom and embedded in the vision of leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
“These principles are not arbitrary insertions but foundational ideals that emerged from the lived experiences of India's oppressed... To ridicule or reject these values is to negate the promise made to the people of India at the moment of our nation's liberation from colonial rule,” Kumar wrote.
Hosabale’s comments were made during an event at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, jointly hosted by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and the Ambedkar International Centre. Reflecting on the Emergency period, he argued that it was not only an abuse of power but a systematic attack on civil liberties and the press. He further claimed that the terms “socialist” and “secular” were “forcibly inserted” into the Constitution during that time and should now be re-evaluated.
