Amit Shah launches stinging attack on Congress on 45 years of Emergency in India.

Former BJP president and Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday came down heavily on the Congress party saying the interests of one family prevailed over that of the party and the nation. Today, June 25, marks the 45th year of the imposition of Emergency in the country.

Questioning why the ‘Emergency mindset’ still remained in the Congress, Shah claimed that leaders are feeling suffocated in the Congress.

“On this day, 45 years ago one family’s greed for power led to the imposition of the Emergency. Overnight the nation was turned into a prison. The press, courts, free speech…all were trampled over. Atrocities were committed on the poor and downtrodden,” he said in a series of tweets.

“The interests of one family prevailed over the party’s interests and national interests. This sorry state of affairs thrives in today’s Congress too!” he said.

Shah said that although the Emergency was lifted in the country due to the efforts of lakhs of people and democracy was restored in the country, it remained “absent in the Congress”. He also said that the grand old party’s disconnect with people is widening.

Shah also made a reference to a recent Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting to say senior and younger members raised a few issues but, “they were shouted down”. He further said that a spokesperson was unceremoniously sacked and the sad truth was that leaders were feeling suffocated in Congress.

The BJP leader was referring to the sacking of Sanjay Jha from the post of spokesperson after he wrote an article critical of the party leadership.

“As one of India’s opposition parties, Congress needs to ask itself: Why does the Emergency mindset remain? Why are leaders who don’t belong to one dynasty unable to speak up? Why are leaders getting frustrated in Congress?”

Emergency in India was imposed on June 25, 1975 and it continued till March 21, 1977 by then PM Indira Gandhi, also the daughter of country’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru.