Which of the following words was added to the Preamble by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976?

Explanation

The 42nd Amendment changed the wording of the Preamble by inserting "Socialist" into the description of India. In the official Constitution text, the phrase is "SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC"; the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 substituted it for the earlier phrase "SOVEREIGN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC". The amendment added three expressions to the Preamble: Socialist, Secular, and Integrity. Therefore, among the options, "Socialist" is the added word; "Sovereign", "Democratic", and "Republic" already belonged to the original Preamble.

Why the other options are wrong

• (A) "Republic" is wrong because the original Preamble already described India as a republic; it was not introduced by the 42nd Amendment.
• (B) "Democratic" is wrong because it was part of the original phrase "SOVEREIGN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC" before the 42nd Amendment.
• (D) "Sovereign" is wrong because the official footnote shows it in the pre-amendment phrase "SOVEREIGN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC".

Concept

This tests the Preamble and constitutional amendments, especially the high-frequency 42nd Amendment changes. RAS repeatedly asks such points because they connect bare constitutional text with amendment history.

Source

• India Code, The Constitution of India

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