Congress General Secretary and MP Jairam Ramesh has filed a privilege motion against Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, accusing him of misleading the Rajya Sabha about the removal of the Preamble from NCERT textbooks.
In his notice, Ramesh claimed that Pradhan’s statement, which suggested that the Preamble was included in recent editions of Class 6 textbooks, was factually incorrect. Ramesh provided examples of textbooks where the Preamble was omitted, contrary to what Pradhan had stated. He argued that this omission undermines the awareness of constitutional values among students and called for privilege proceedings against Pradhan for allegedly misleading the House.
Earlier, during a debate in the Rajya Sabha, Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge criticized the BJP government for removing the Preamble, calling it an affront to the Constitution and accusing the government of erasing statues of significant figures and tampering with the Constitution. Kharge’s remarks led to a heated exchange, with protests from the Treasury benches and an intervention by Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Pradhan responded sharply, accusing the Congress of spreading lies and confusion. He defended the government’s actions, asserting that the Preamble and other key constitutional elements remain included in textbooks and criticized Kharge for making factually incorrect allegations.