Preamble to the Constitution not removed from NCERT textbooks: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan
New Delhi (PTI): Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday said the Preamble to the Constitution is very well there in NCERT textbooks of Class VI as he refuted charges made in this regard by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
Earlier, Opposition Congress party raised in Rajya Sabha the issue of dropping Preamble from certain NCERT textbooks, saying this was an attempt to impose communal ideology on the country - a claim which Union Minister J P Nadda countered saying the government was committed to protecting constitution.
During Zero Hour, Leader of the Opposition and Congress President Kharge said Preamble, which is the soul and foundation of Indian Constitution, used to be published in NCERT textbooks.
Soon after Zero Hour, Pradhan said Kharge has made certain remarks regarding NCERT books of the education department.
"I want to humbly put the facts in the House," he said.
The minister informed the House that till now textbooks for classes up to 7th have been published.
"Leader of the Opposition was saying that earlier there used to be Preamble (in the textbooks). In the new textbooks of Class VI, there is Preamble. Not only Preamble, there is Fundamental Duties, Fundamental Rights, and National Anthem (in the books). These also represent core values of the Constitution and they are in the books. What he said was not a fact," Pradhan said.
In Zero Hour, Kharge said, every citizen especially the future generation needs to be educated about foundational principles and values of Indian democracy and Constitution as well as the sacrifices made by freedom fighters such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, B R Ambedkar, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
He then went on to make a statement on shifting of statues of Gandhi and Ambedkar in the Parliament complex - which was objected to from the treasury benches, and Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said Kharge was deviating from the subject.
"RSS and BJP are trying to impose their communal ideology on people by tampering with curriculum. And the step taken by NCERT is not right," he said amid protests from the ruling side.
At this point, Dhankhar ordered that nothing will go on record and he would "look into what has to be deleted... last four minutes to be deleted."
"You are digressing from the issue," he told Kharge.
Kharge demanded that the government give a clarification on the issue, present facts before the House and withdraw the move to drop Preamble from NCERT textbooks.
"Undoubtedly all of us are committed to the constitution and any perception to the contrary will hurt all of us," Dhankhar said.
Leader of the House and BJP President J P Nadda said though he has not seen either NCERT textbook or the change but can with all authority state that there is no question of any needling of the Constitution.
"Word by word, letter by letter, this government under the dynamic leadership of (Prime Minister) Modi is committed (to the Constitution)," he said.
On Kharge quoting from Constituent Assembly debate, he said it was only under the Modi government that November 26 (when the debate took place) was declared Constitution Day.
He went on to attack Congress for imposing Emergency in 1975 and dismissing more than 90 elected governments in states in violation of the Constitution.
On RSS, he said the Congress government tried to ban the organisation twice and jailed 1.25 lakh people for two years but "RSS emerged stronger because it is a nationalist organisation and an organisation connected to the grassroots."
"Preamble has been protected and will be protected," he declared.
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LIVE | Election Results of five states 2026
New Delhi: The countdown has begun for the counting of votes for the Assembly elections in five states that have captured the attention of people across the country.
The counting of votes for the Assembly constituencies of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry will begin simultaneously at 8 am, and the fate of candidates in a total of 824 constituencies will be decided shortly.
The counting of postal ballots will take place first, followed by the counting of EVM votes in several rounds.
► DMK candidate in Thiruchirapalli KN Nehru behind TVK's G Ramamoorthi by 292 votes
► The BJP has taken an early lead in West Bengal, while Mamata Banerjee faces tough competition
► TVK head Vijay leads in Perambur constituency
► M. K. Stalin is leading in Tamil Nadu’s Kolathur constituency.
► AIADMK leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami is leading in Tamil Nadu’s Edappadi constituency
► In Puducherry, BJP is leading in 3 seats.
► In Assam, BJP is leading in 56 seats, while Congress is leading in 12 seats.
► Suvendhu Adhikari leads in both Bhabanipur and Nandigram
► West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee faces setback in Bhabanipur constituency
► Bhupen Borah, who recently left Congress and joined the BJP, is leading in Assam’s Bihpuria constituency
► Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma is leading in Jalukabari constituency
► BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari is leading in West Bengal’s Nandigram constituencyFive-state elections: Postal vote counting begins
► TMC, BJP lead in one seat each in West Bengal
► In Tamil Nadu, DMK leads in 3 constituencies, while TVK leads in 1
► UDF leads in 5 seats in Kerala, BJP in 1, LDF in 1
► BJP leads in 2 seats, AIUDF in 1 in Assam
► AINRC leads in 1 constituency in Puducherry
► TMC leads in 5 seats in West Bengal; Mamata Banerjee’s party maintains initial lead
► Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin leads in Kolathur
► BJP takes early lead in Assam
► Congress-led UDF leads in Kerala
► Tamil Nadu, TVK chief Vijay leads in the Perambur constituency, lags in Tiruchirappalli South
► BJP leads in 10 seats in Assam
► LDF candidate V.P.P. Mustafa leads in the Thrikkaripur Assembly constituency
► Out of 294 seats in West Bengal, BJP is leading in 14 seats, TMC in 12 seats, Congress in 2 seats
► Out of 234 seats in Tamil Nadu, DMK is leading in 15 seats, AIADMK is leading in 5 seats, TVK is leading in 2 seats
► Out of 126 seats in Assam, BJP is leading in 31 seats, Congress in 4 seats, AIUDF in 2 seats.
► Out of 30 seats in Puducherry, NRC+ is leading in 3 seats, Congress in 2 seats, TVK in 1 seat.
► Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury suffers a setback in theBerhampore constituency in West Bengal.
