"Black Day for Democracy": BJP leader Bansuri Swaraj on 49th anniversary of Emergency

Bharatiya Janata Party MP Bansuri Swaraj hit out at the Congress party and said that 25 June 1975 was a black day for democracy when former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi strangled Indian democracy for their lust for power.

Bharatiya Janata Party MP Bansuri Swaraj hit out at the Congress party and said that 25 June 1975 was a black day for democracy when former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi strangled Indian democracy for her lust for power. "25 June 1975 was a black day for democracy when Indira Gandhi and the Congress Party strangled Indian democracy for their lust for power... Today, the BJP is sending a message to every Indian about how the Congress Party suppressed the voice of the media for its selfish interests and strangled democracy," Swaraj told ANI on Tuesday.

BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh said that the Congress introduced its dictatorship by dissolving the elected governments of the country. "Programs have been held across the country against the Emergency... This is the same Congress that insulted Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, did not give him Bharat Ratna, and did not allow his last rites to be performed in Delhi. This is the same Congress that introduced its dictatorship by dissolving the elected governments of the country. The people of the country are organizing programs across the country remembering that dark chapter of the Congress," Chugh said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Modi, in sharp criticism of the Congress, said that the dark days of the Emergency are a reminder of how the Congress Party trampled over the Constitution of India. Taking to X, PM Modi posted, "Today is a day to pay homage to all those great men and women who resisted the emergency. The Dark Days of Emergency remind us of how the Congress Party subverted basic freedoms and trampled over the Constitution of India, which every Indian respects greatly."

He further said that just to cling on to power, the then Congress government disregarded every democratic principle. "Just to cling on to power, the then Congress government disregarded every democratic principle and made the nation into a jail. Any person who disagreed with Congress was tortured and harassed. Socially regressive policies were unleashed to target the weakest sections," the prime minister wrote.

He wrote that those who imposed the emergency have no right to profess their love for our Constitution. "These are the same people who have imposed Article 356 on innumerable occasions, got a bill to destroy press freedom, destroyed federalism, and violated every aspect of the Constitution," he added. PM Modi further hit out at Congress and said that the people of India have rejected them time and again.

He further added, "The mindset that led to the imposition of the emergency is very much alive among the same party that imposed it. They hide their disdain for the Constitution through their tokenism, but the people of India have seen through their antics, and that is why they have rejected them time and again." The BJP held a nationwide programme to mark the 21-month state of emergency imposed on June 25, 1975, by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

June 25 marks the day when Indira Gandhi declared a state of Emergency in the country for 21 months from 1975 to 1977. (ANI)

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