Congress has no moral authority to speak on freedom of speech after declaring emergency in the country: Union Minister
The Congress party has no moral authority to speak on democracy and freedom of speech after imposing Emergency in the country while being in power at the Centre 50 years ago, Union Minister of State for Mines and Minerals Satish Chandra Dubey said on Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference here at the BJP office, the Union Minister said the declaration of Emergency 50 years ago by the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, would remain as the 'darkest day' in the country.
'People who lived during the days of Emergency in the country still remember the harassment and difficulties they faced at the hands of the Congress. People were illegally detained and put behind bars. The Congress has no right to speak about freedom of speech and democracy,' he said.
The Emergency was declared by the Congress to hold on to power, the Minister said adding that the grand-old party would not hesitate to resort to such undemocratic steps, if they came back to power. 'The party is still in the same mindset and will do anything for power and to protect the interests of the dynasty. So, people should keep Congress out of power,' he said.
The BJP has decided to observe 'Samvidhan Hatya Diwas' to remind people of the dark days of Emergency, BJP president and Member of Parliament V. Selvganabathy said. Home Minister A. Namassivayam, Minister for Adi Dravidar Welfare A. K. Sai J. Saravanan Kumar were present.
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The Print
18 minutes ago
- The Print
50 yrs since Emergency, Congress's journey from justification to admission of ‘mistake'
'When elections were held (in 1980), she returned to power. People were in no mood to rake up the past. The Congress came back with a nearly two-thirds majority,' Kharge told a press conference, echoing a line many party leaders have taken over the years when confronted with the Emergency's uncomfortable legacy. 'They (BJP) put her in the dock over the Emergency, but she acknowledged it was a mistake and also apologised,' Kharge said Wednesday, noting that the former prime minister even voted in favour of the 44th Amendment, which reversed many constitutional changes introduced during the Emergency. New Delhi: On the 50th anniversary of the Emergency declaration, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that Indira Gandhi had admitted the imposition of the Emergency was a 'mistake' for which she had apologised to the people. However, flipping through the pages of history reveals a more nuanced picture. Until Rahul Gandhi's unequivocal admission in 2021 that the Emergency was a mistake, no Congress leader had explicitly apologised for its imposition without qualifiers. Kharge's claim that Indira Gandhi had called it a mistake appears to be a reference to her January 1978 'apology'—which addressed the 'excesses' committed during the 21-month period, but not the act of imposing it itself. In a 1978 interview to Jonathan Dimbleby of UK-based Thames Television, Indira had, in fact, defended her decision, saying it was needed as her political rivals 'were destroying democracy.' 'Because they felt they could not win an election, they said we must take the battle to the streets. Morarji Desai is on record in an interview having said 'we are going to surround the PM house, the parliament, and we will see that no business is done'. … Another member of the opposition, now a minister, said if we cannot win by the ballot we will win by the bullet…India would not have survived. It was as serious as a war period,' Indira said. Her son Rajiv Gandhi, who took over as the prime minister following her assassination in 1984, also employed similar arguments in defending her move when the issue came up in the Lok Sabha on 23 July, 1985. That day, Rajiv, who had a brute majority of 414 seats in the Lok Sabha, found himself cornered in Parliament, with opposition leaders pressing for an adjournment motion to discuss the 'possibility of a proclamation' of a fresh Emergency in the country. Despite Speaker Balram Jakhar rejecting the demand, stating there was no basis for it, socialist leader Madhu Dandavate, along with CPI leader Indrajit Gupta and a few other opposition MPs, compelled Rajiv to intervene. Dandavate argued that certain remarks made by the Prime Minister at a press conference earlier that month had 'created apprehensions about the possibility of a proclamation of Emergency in the country.' With Jakhar struggling to restore order in the House, Rajiv stood up. 'I will answer that,' he said. His subsequent remarks—recorded in the official Parliament proceedings—are telling. 'I was asked a very specific question. One, whether I thought the Emergency when it was proclaimed in 1975 was correct? I said 'yes', I think it is correct and I stand by that statement,' Rajiv said. 'The second part of the question I was asked was 'if conditions similar to those in 1975 were to repeat themselves would I do the same thing?' My answer was that it was highly unlikely that any given set of conditions can repeat themselves. I said that 'if conditions do occur that require an emergency to be proclaimed, I will not hesitate to proclaim an Emergency',' he said. He argued that there was no bigger danger in any country than a 'vacillating government'. 'And that was the type of government we had when you were sitting on this side. That is why you are afraid to talk about the Emergency. There is nothing wrong with an emergency if it is applied when it is required. The Constitution tells us when it is required,' Rajiv said, invoking Indira's return to power in 1980. 'The ultimate people whom the Prime Minister is responsible to are the people of India. And the people of India will decide what they want, irrespective of what the honourable member might feel. And in 1980, they realised their mistake!' Months later, addressing a session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in Mumbai (then Bombay), Rajiv once again justified the imposition of Emergency, stating that it was imposed to 'meet an unprecedented threat to the nation's stability'. The move, he said, boosted India's socio-economic development. 'The process of socio-economic change gathered momentum with the promulgation of the bold and dynamic 20 Point Programme. A democrat to the core of her being, Indiraji called elections in 1977. She accepted the verdict of the people who defeated her and the Congress. She knew it was an angry reaction to some mistakes that had been committed, but that the people were still with her and with the Congress…,' he said. In 2004, in an interview to ThePrint founder and editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta, who was then the editor of The Indian Express, Sonia Gandhi said that the very fact that Indira called elections in 1977 was a sign that she had a rethink on the Emergency. 'I think she did think that it was a mistake. Because don't forget that at least the Indira Gandhi I knew was a democrat at heart, to the core. And I think circumstances compelled her to take that action but she was never quite at ease with it,' she said, adding that it was a lesson that no future government should repeat any such measure. However, that statement came with the caveat: 'Those were different times.' Also Read: Rajnath, Shivraj & Javadekar. How jail term during Emergency shaped leaders of today's BJP What Pranab, Manmohan & Rahul said In his 2014 book, 'The Dramatic Decade: The Indira Gandhi Years', former president and the late Congress stalwart, Pranab Mukherjee, claimed that Emergency brought 'discipline in public life', a growing economy, controlled inflation, a reversed trade deficit for the first time, enhanced developmental expenditure and a crackdown on tax evasion and smuggling but 'it was perhaps an avoidable event'. 'Suspension of fundamental rights and political activity, including trade union activity, large scale arrests of political leaders and activists, press censorship, and extending the life of legislatures by not conducting elections were some instances of Emergency adversely affecting the interests of the people. The Congress and Indira Gandhi had to pay a heavy price for this misadventure,' wrote Mukherjee. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who died in December 2024, is also quoted in his daughter Daman Singh's book 'Strictly Personal: Manmohan and Gursharan' that 'some good things happened' during the Emergency but 'the atmosphere in the whole country was one of fear. There were arbitrary arrests and detentions.' It was only in March 2021 that Rahul Gandhi, in an interaction at Cornell University in the US, said that what happened during that period was 'wrong' and that his grandmother's decision was a mistake. 'I think that was a mistake. Absolutely, that was a mistake. And my grandmother said as much,' Rahul said, when asked about his thoughts. But, he promptly added that there was a fundamental difference between what happened during the Emergency and the prevailing situation in the country. 'The Congress party at no point attempted to capture India's institutional framework and frankly, the Congress party does not even have that capability. Our design does not allow us that and even if we want, we cannot do it,' Rahul said. (Edited by Tony Rai) Also Read: 50 years since Emergency: How judges, lawyers enabled & resisted Indira Gandhi's crackdown
The Print
18 minutes ago
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Kharge's ‘Modi first' swipe at Tharoor. Congress MP responds ‘wings are your, sky belongs to no one'
However, he left no room for doubt that the party's ties with Tharoor have soured to an extent that no efforts are being made to mend it. Kharge, who faced a barrage of questions on Tharoor's future in the Congress at a press conference held by the party to counter the BJP's narrative on the 1975 Emergency, avoided a clear-cut response on whether the Lok Sabha MP will face any disciplinary action. New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge Wednesday made known the party leadership's displeasure with Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, saying unlike the Congress's 'country first' motto, 'some say Modi first, country later'. 'The opposition together said they were with the armed forces that were fighting (during Operation Sindoor). We (the Congress) said the country comes above all and we will work together (with the government). We said 'country first, party later'. But some people say 'Modi first, country later'. What can we do about that?' Kharge said. He was responding to a question on Tharoor's The Hindu opinion piece on the success of Operation Sindoor's global outreach achieved through the visits of multi-party delegations. In the piece, published 23 June, Tharoor—who led a nine-member delegation to the US, Panama, Guyana, Brazil and Colombia—lauded the outreach, piloted by the Centre, saying it was 'vital in shaping global perceptions and consolidating international support.' Tharoor also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the piece, stating that the PM's 'energy, dynamism and willingness to engage remains a prime asset for India on the global stage, but deserves greater backing.' The Prime Minister's Office had shared the article on 'X'. At the press conference, Kharge also took a jibe at Tharoor. 'I can't read English well. His (Tharoor's) language is very good and that's why we have made him a Congress Working Committee member,' Kharge said. A four-term MP, Tharoor is a member of the CWC, the party's highest-decision making forum. Asked if the leadership was wary of the pitfalls of acting against Tharoor, Kharge said the Congress had no reason to be bothered about all that. 'There are nearly 34 working committee members, 34 permanent invitees, and nearly 30 special invitees in the CWC. People can write as they wish. We are not bothered about it. We are concerned about the country and its interests. If somebody is concerned about something else, you can ask him about that,' Kharge said. Tharoor, who is attending the Primakov Readings global summit on international relations and world economy in Moscow, made a cryptic post on 'X' soon after Kharge's remarks. He essentially posted an image of a bird with the caption: 'Don't ask permission to fly. The wings are yours. And the sky belongs to no one.' (Edited by Tony Rai) Also Read: New twist in Congress-Tharoor saga—PMO shares Kerala MP's article on Op Sindoor global outreach
The Print
18 minutes ago
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Kharge leads Congress charge against BJP over ‘undeclared Emergency', ‘puppet' election commission
Kharge said the country was experiencing an 'undeclared Emergency' under the BJP-led ruling dispensation, which, he claimed, was bereft of tolerance and fraternity. A government curtailing free speech got no right to 'lecture' others, said Kharge. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge led the charge for the main Opposition party, seeking to push back against the Centre-led narrative on the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, which Indira Gandhi had imposed when she was prime minister. New Delhi: The Congress Wednesday questioned the integrity of the electoral process, suggesting that the BJP wins not through popular mandate but the manipulation of electronic voting machines (EVMs), while calling the Election Commission of India (ECI) a 'puppet' of the ruling party. 'They (BJP leaders) say they were winning elections. Rahul Gandhi and many others cited numbers to point at [irregularities], but the election commission, which has become a puppet of the government, is not ready to accept. You [the BJP] have captured that puppet and are winning polls. You are not winning polls; your machines are. They let go of the ones they want to and capture the ones they want to,' Kharge told at a press conference at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi. Ever since the Congress defeat in the Maharashtra assembly polls in November 2024, the party has been questioning the result, flagging what it has called 'glaring discrepancies in the voter rolls' prepared by the ECI. It has also cast doubts on the turnout figures released by the poll body. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has alleged that the Maharashtra elections witnessed 'industrial-scale rigging'. The Election Commission of India, dismissing the charges, invited Rahul for a meeting to discuss 'all issues'. Asked about an ECI letter to Rahul on the issue, Kharge said the Congress wanted a redressal of the problems it had raised, not a debate. The chief of the Congress reiterated his demand to bring back paper ballots by phasing out EVMs. 'All I am saying is that there are defects in your election procedure. Across the world, elections are on paper ballots, be it the US, Australia, or the United Kingdom …,' he said. During the day, the Congress's Empowered Action Group of Leaders and Experts (EAGLE), an internal committee formed by the party in February this year to monitor elections, responded to the ECI's 12 June letter to Rahul. The committee reiterated the Congress's demands—machine-readable digital copy of the Maharashtra voter lists, as well as video footage from the polling days in Maharashtra and Haryana. 'The Congress party leadership will be happy to meet with the ECI soon after we have received these. In that meeting, we will even present the findings of our analysis to you. As the party that helped establish India as a sovereign democratic independent republic, we will cooperate with the Election Commission to help strengthen our electoral processes. Similarly, it is in the interest of India's global standing as a cherished democracy that the EC wins the fullest trust and confidence of India's billion voters and its political parties (sic),' noted the letter by EAGLE. The Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition took a potshot at Narendra Modi, saying the Prime Minister was scripting a 'drama' in the name of the 25 June 'Samvidhan Hatya Divas (murder of the Constitution day)', which the Centre has declared to mark the 50th anniversary of the Emergency. Also Read: Won't bow before BJP, prove it or resign—Kharge challenges Anurag Thakur over land grab charge On Op Sindoor & Emergency 'The country is facing an undeclared 'Emergency'. They (BJP leaders), however, rake up the Emergency of the past. People have forgotten about it. Indira Gandhi supported the amendments to the Constitution introduced by Morarji Desai. Now, they (BJP leaders) are enacting a drama,' Kharge said. He was referring to the 44th amendment introduced in the Constitution by the Janata Party government, which Desai led as the prime minister. The 44th amendment replaced 'internal disturbance' with 'armed rebellion' as grounds for any Emergency declarations while making it clear that Articles 19 and 21, which guarantee freedom of speech and expression, the right to assemble peacefully without arms, and the right to life and personal liberty could not remain in suspension even during an internal Emergency. On the current government, Kharge said, 'The Constitution is in danger due to these people. Dissenters, journalists, and opposition leaders are now not tolerated. Where is free speech? Students are termed traitors; journalists are jailed.' Kharge mocked the PM over the Centre's silence on the repeated claims by United States President Donald Trump that his administration mediated between India and Pakistan when a military conflict broke out between the two neighbours. In May this year, India struck terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir after the 22 April Pahalgam attack, leading to cross-border tensions. 'A so-called Vishwa Guru cannot resolve a myriad of issues at home. Moreover, Trump has claimed to have brokered a truce between India and Pakistan at least 15 times now. However, he (PM Modi) has not uttered a word. How are you a Vishwa Guru when you are scared of Trump? And he (Modi) did something that no one has done before. He went to the US and joined the election campaign of Trump, raising the slogan 'Ab ki baar Trump sarkar',' Kharge said. (Edited by Madhurita Goswami) Also Read: '10 Saal Anyay Kaal'—when Mallikarjun Kharge released a chargesheet of BJP's decade in power
