On the eve of this Independence Day, Bibek Debroy, the chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, called for a new Constitution, breathing fresh life into a pet theme of the RSS and the BJP.

In an article in the Mint daily, Debroy wrote: “A few amendments won’t do. We should go back to the drawing board and start from first principles, asking what these words in the Preamble mean now: socialist, secular, democratic, justice, liberty and equality.”

On Thursday evening, after condemnation by Opposition leaders and others, the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) posted on X (formerly Twitter): “The recent article by Dr Bibek Debroy was in his personal capacity. In no way do they reflect the views of EAC-PM or the Government of India.”

Soon, Debroy told a news agency that these were his personal views and not that of the EAC or the government. The Mint’s website removed his designation from the online version of the article and added a disclaimer iterating what the EAC and Debroy had clarified.

Writing in The New Indian Express newspaper last June, Debroy had called for “substantial changes to be made to the Indian Constitution”. The Kesavananda Bharati judgment of 1973 had defined the basic structure (which cannot be amended) of the Constitution. Debroy had written: “But who will decide whether an amendment leads to a change in the basic structure?”

Debroy is not the first person from the ruling establishment to test such waters.

In 2017, the then junior Union minister, Anantkumar Hegde, made controversial remarks on those who “call themselves secular” in a speech in Karnataka. He added: “...We are here to change the Constitution and we’ll change it.” Hegde apologised after Parliament proceedings were stalled on the issue.

The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had formed a national commission in 2000 to review the working of the Constitution. The panel, led by former Chief Justice of India M.N. Venkatachaliah, submitted its report in 2002. Its recommendations, which included amendments to the Fundamental Rights, were not accepted by consecutive governments.

Bunch of Thoughts is a collection of the works of the RSS’s second chief M. S. Golwalkar and one of the ideological reference books of the Sangh parivar.

It says in Chapter 19: “Our Constitution too is just a cumbersome and heterogeneous piecing together of various articles from various Constitutions of Western countries. It has absolutely nothing, which can be called our own. Is there a single word of reference in its guiding principles as to what our national mission is and what our keynote in life is? No! Some lame principles from the United Nations Charter or from the Charter of the now defunct League of Nations and some features from the American and British Constitutions have been just brought together in a mere hotchpotch.”

This discomfort with the current Constitution is expressed in J. Sai Deepak’s book, India, That is Bharat, published in 2021. Publisher Bloomsbury’s description of the book says that it “…traces the origins of seemingly universal constructs such as ‘toleration’, ‘secularism’ and ‘humanism’ to Christian political theology. Their subsequent role in subverting the indigenous Indic consciousness through a secularised and universalised Reformation, that is, constitutionalism, is examined. It also puts forth the concept of Middle Eastern coloniality, which preceded its European variant and allies with it in the context of Bharat to advance their shared antipathy towards the Indic worldview.”

A popular Right-wing lawyer, Deepak’s lectures and debates are shared extensively on social media by the pro-RSS online ecosystem.

The Opposition was scathing towards Debroy. Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh tweeted: “On this 77th Independence Day, the Chairman of Economic Advisory Council to the PM has sounded the bugle for junking the Constitution — of which Dr Ambedkar was a prime architect. He wants the country to embrace a brand new one. This has always been the agenda of the Sangh parivar. Be warned, India!”

BSP leader Mayawati tweeted: “Advocating a new Constitution in the country by Bibek Debroy, chairman of the Economic Advisory Council, in his article is an open violation of his jurisdiction, which the central government must take immediate cognizance of and take action so that no one dares to talk like this again.

“The Constitution of the country is a guarantee of being humanistic and egalitarian for its 140 crore poor, backward and neglected people, who do not like the selfish, narrow-minded, casteist elements and they talk about turning it into anti-people and pro-capitalist. Opposing this (call for change) is everyone’s responsibility.”

CPM MP John Brittas tweeted: “Bibek Debroy wants a new Constitution; his main problem is with the basic structure with words like socialist, secular, democratic etc. In effect, he bats for HINDU RASHTRA. If he has written in personal capacity, what was the decoration for?” The initial article in the Mint had identified Debroy as “chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister”.