New Delhi: "Emergency exists in the DNA of Congress," Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Tuesday even as the Bharatiya Janata Party marked the 43rd anniversary of imposing of the Emergency as 'black day' across the nation.
Making a scathing attack on the Congress, the senior BJP leader mentioned that, "Congress' image, identity and footprints continue to be influenced by the Emergency."
On the day, BJP stalwarts recalled and spoke across the country on the tenure of 21 months and while addressing a press conference Prasad asserted that the national party (Congress) also tried to silent the judiciary then like media. Still now, when it loses elections, it blames the electronic voting machine and the Election Commission and its leaders also attacked the Army chief, the minister said.
Prasad, who was then a law student and part of JP movement, further, mentioned that "Emergency was imposed to save the then prime minister Indira Gandhi and the process began six months before it was imposed. Nobody knew about the imposition of emergency. It was a completely unconstitutional act because in the maintenance of the internal security act you have to give grounds of public order disturbance."
"Mrs Gandhi never had faith on her Cabinet and without informing her colleagues the then President of India Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed announced the Emergency," he said.
The senior politician also avouched that to collapse the democracy, editors and journalists were also threatened to get arrested under MISA, along with politicians.
Apart from Prasad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Parliament Affairs Minister Anant Kumar also struggled for the freedom of lives, freedom of press and freedom of the Supreme Court, the minister recalled.
June 25 marks the day when Indira Gandhi declared a state of Emergency across the country, which lasted for a 21-month period from 1975 to 1977.