Congress, Gandhis ‘mentality’ hasn’t changed since Emergency: PM Modi

Emergency was imposed 43 years ago on June 25 because of “lust for power and servility to one family”, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, accusing the Congress party of subverting the Constitution.

Modi didn’t name the Gandhis but accused the Congress and its family of not changing their “mentality” since Emergency. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has this week attacked late Congress leader Indira Gandhi, who imposed Emergency as Prime Minister, as the country moves to hold Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

“Whenever the family has feared losing its position, it keeps shouting that the country is in crisis and there is an atmosphere of fear,” ANI quoted Modi as saying in a speech in Mumbai.

“The country never thought that just for lust for power and servility to one family, India would be made into one big jail. Every person lived in fear. Constitution was misused,” he said.

“We are not observing black day (Emergency) just to criticise the Congress, we want to make the youth of today aware of what happened.”

“Let us always work to make our democratic ethos stronger. Writing, debating, deliberating, questioning are vital aspects of our democracy which we are proud of. No force can ever trample the basic tenets of our Constitution,” said Modi earlier on Twitter.

On Monday, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley compared Emergency with Adolf Hitler’s dictatorial regime in Germany. He also Indira Gandhi of transforming India into a “dynastic democracy”.