Democracy ''murdered'' during Emergency, Rahul Gandhi hurting country''s prestige now: Bandi Sanjay

Hyderabad, Jun 25 (PTI) Slamming the imposition of Emergency by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Wednesday alleged that her grandson Rahul Gandhi has hurt the country's prestige by claiming on foreign soil that democracy is in danger in India.

In a statement on the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, Sanjay Kumar, Union Minister of State for Home, said the Emergency was a dark chapter in the country's history post-Independence.

Emergency was imposed on this day in 1975 by the then-Indira Gandhi government.

During the Emergency, democracy was murdered, people's voice was muzzled, opposition leaders were jailed, and the membership of opposition MPs who questioned it was cancelled by the then Congress government, Sanjay Kumar said.

In undivided Andhra Pradesh, several ABVP and Jan Sangh leaders who fought against the Emergency, including V Rama Rao, Jupudi Yagna Narayana, P V Chalapati Rao, former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, and present Tripura Governor N Indrasena Reddy, were arrested, he recalled.

Congress misused Article 356 (that deals with the provisions in case of failure of constitutional machinery in a State) 99 times to dislodge opposition governments in states, he said.

The people of the country have taught a lesson to Congress when it tried to get votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by spreading falsehood that the BJP would change the Constitution and abolish reservations. Still, there is no change in the attitude of Congress leaders, he charged.

While Indira Gandhi tried to save her power by imposing the Emergency, her grandson and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, for the sake of power, damaged the country's prestige by stating on foreign soil that democracy is in danger in India, Sanjay Kumar alleged. PTI SJR SJR ADB