On January 3, 1977 former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi introduced an amendment in the Constitution of India to add socialism and secularism in the preamble, and changed the description of India from “sovereign democratic republic” to “sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic”.
43 years later, the Indian National Congress is set to celebrate the amendment day as Samvidhan Charcha Divas in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.
The historical 42nd amendment – which is hailed as the most progressive amendment to the Indian Constitution – faces threat of alteration by the BJP led Central government.
