However, the euphoria surrounding the Constitution in general and the preamble in particular is understandable now considering the situation we are in. Ambedkar’s response was short, rounding off the debate: “This preamble embodies that this Constitution has its root, its authority, its sovereignty from the people” (October 17, 1949). However, at the same time, if India was move in that direction, constitutional democracy was a sine qua non. There was no doubt that by substituting the idea of ‘independent sovereign republic’, with ‘sovereign democratic republic’, Ambedkar was trying to redirect India into a very different trajectory. However, as the decades passed, the vision behind such an idea of India became ever more elusive.

Source: The Hindu January 25, 2020 19:42 UTC