Which of the following words is NOT mentioned in the Preamble of the Constitution of India?

The correct answer is D (Federal). The Preamble declares India a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. Sovereign and democratic are in the original 1950 text. Secular and socialist were added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976, along with integrity. The word 'federal' appears nowhere in the Preamble.

Option A is in the text and affirms that India is free to chart its own course. Option B reflects the democratic character of the republic, rooted in universal adult franchise. Option C, secular, is in the Preamble today only because of the 42nd Amendment, which is why many candidates assume it was always there.

Where does federalism come from, then? Article 1 describes India as a 'Union of States', a deliberate choice over the American 'federation' label. The Supreme Court in S.R. Bommai (1994) treated federalism as part of the basic structure. So the Constitution is federal in substance, but the word is absent from the Preamble. This distinction is central to the Mains debate on whether India is 'federal' or 'quasi-federal'.

Core concept: the Preamble's key words and how amendment history changed them.

Trap: aspirants assume 'secular' was always in the Preamble, or they infer that because federalism is a basic structure feature, 'federal' must be a Preamble word. Always check the actual text.