Lalu Prasad Yadav Remembers Emergency, Criticizes Current Government
Patna (Bihar) [India], June 29: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav recalled the dark days of the Emergency imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He shared an article titled ‘The Sangh Silence in 1975’ on X, co-written with journalist Nalin Verma, criticizing the current BJP-led central government.
Yadav stated, ‘I was the convener of the steering committee that Jayaprakash Narayan had constituted to carry forward the movement against the excesses of Emergency imposed by the then PM Indira Gandhi. I was in jail under the Maintenance of Security Act (MISA) for over 15 months. My colleagues and I did not know many of the BJP ministers speaking about the Emergency today. We hadn’t heard of Modi, J P Nadda, and some of the PM’s other ministerial colleagues who today lecture us on the value of freedom.’
He added, ‘Indira Gandhi put many of us behind bars, but she never abused us. Neither she nor her ministers called us ‘anti-national’ or ‘unpatriotic’. She never enabled vandals to defile the memory of Babasaheb Ambedkar–the architect of our Constitution. 1975 is a stain on our democracy but let’s not forget who doesn’t respect the Opposition in 2024.’
On June 25, 1975, Indira Gandhi imposed a 21-month state of emergency, marking one of the most controversial periods in India’s political history. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Emergency.
Earlier, President Droupadi Murmu addressed the joint sitting of the Parliament, criticizing the imposition of the Emergency. ‘Emergency was the biggest and darkest chapter of the direct attack on the Constitution. The entire country plunged into chaos during the Emergency, but the nation was victorious against such unconstitutional powers,’ she said.
Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge also commented, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to gain cheap applause by making the President deliver a speech filled with lies. ‘Modi Ji is trying to gain cheap applause by making the Honorable President speak lies, which the people of India have already rejected in the 2024 elections,’ Kharge wrote on his official ‘X’ account.
