Under attack for alleged misdemeanour of some of its top leaders, the BJP on Thursday maximised the 40th anniversary of the Emergency, imposed by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975, to target the Congress.
Not only did Prime Minister Narendra Modi send out an early tweet on Emergency but also dwelt at length on the subject during an official function, where he recalled the “darkest days” of Indian democracy when “the nation was bound with chains and turned into a jail due to one person’s lust for power”.
He said the memorial being built to Jayaprakash Narayan, who led the Total Revolution movement, will be a guiding light and ode to democracy.
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BJP president Amit Shah presided over a function on the Emergency organised by Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation, which was attended by several party workers and leaders who had been jailed during the period. Those present included senior Delhi BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra and party office-bearers Ram Lal and Shyam Jaju.
In an impassioned address, Mr. Shah said imposition of the Emergency did not come from the then prevailing situation or from promulgation of ordinances. It was the result of an “autocratic and dynastic mindset”.
He said, “As long as parties such as the BJP, which have inner democracy and are not controlled by a single family, are there, the Emergency cannot come back in the country.”
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