Question

What is meant by political sovereignty?

Answer 1

Hint: The Preamble serves as the brief introduction to the Constitution of India. It sets out the basic philosophy and values that our founding fathers believed to be the spirit of the nation. It begins with stating the very source of the Constitution “We, the people of India” and thus embodies the hopes and aspirations of the people as a whole. The Preamble states that people of India through the Constitution have constituted India as a sovereign, socialist, secular and democratic republic. The values and objectives which are to be secured to all are—Justice, economic, social and political, liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship, equality of status and opportunity; and fraternity among all assuring the dignity and integrity of the nation.

Complete Step by Step answer: Political sovereignty means the independent authority of a polity, in this case, the State. The State has the complete right to govern over itself without any interference from any external source. The word ‘sovereign’ in the Constitution signifies that India is a free country and it is not subject to the control of any other State or external entity. When the Constitution of India came into effect on Jan 26, 1950, it ensured the departure from the status of dominion in the British Commonwealth as set up by the Indian Independence Act, 1947, to a free nation.

Note: The declaration at the end of the Preamble highlights that it was adopted, enacted and given to ourselves on Nov 26, 1950, which signifies that the Constitution was not granted by any authority, native or foreign but belonged to and was derived from the people. The 42nd Amendment of 1976 inserted the words “socialist” and “secular” and changed the phrase “unity of the nation” to “unity and integrity of the nation”.