A day after INDIA bloc leaders staged a massive protest inside the parliament premises against National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders), PM Modi on Tuesday took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and said, “Those those who imposed the Emergency have no right to profess their love for our Constitution…”, apparently jabbing at the Congress.
Hitting out at the main opposition party, he said, “These are the same people who have imposed Article 356 on innumerable occasions, got a Bill to destroy press freedom, destroyed federalism and violated every aspect of the Constitution.”
On the 49th anniversary of the imposition of the Emergency, PM Modi said the dark days showed how the Congress subverted basic freedoms and trampled over the Constitution which every Indian respects greatly.
“Today is a day to pay homage to all those great men and women who resisted the Emergency. The #DarkDaysOfEmergency remind us of how the Congress Party subverted basic freedoms and trampled over the Constitution of India which every Indian respects greatly,” he said on the platform X.
Modi said that just to remain in power, the then-Congress government disregarded every democratic principle and turned the nation into a prison.
He said those who disagreed with the Congress were tortured and harassed during the emergency. “Socially regressive policies were unleashed to target the weakest sections,” he added.
War of Words between the BJP and Congress
The first day of the 18th Lok Sabha election witnessed stormy remarks on Monday, facing a war of words between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge over the imposition of an emergency in 1975.
The opposition staged a protest march inside the Parliament complex, with MPs of the INDIA bloc raising slogans on “saving democracy” and displaying copies of the Constitution.
People want substance, not slogans, said Modi.
In his customary pre-session remarks, Modi also said that people want a good and responsible opposition and asserted that his government will strive to take everyone along and build a consensus.
People want substance, not slogans, he told reporters, in an apparent reference to several previous sessions that were marred by the absence of a debate due to adjournments caused by frequent run-ins between the treasury and opposition benches.
Modi vs. Kharge
Referring to the emergency imposed in 1975, the Prime Minister said the new generation will never forget the day when the Constitution of India was completely rejected by the then Congress leader and the country was turned into a jail.
Modi also urged people to take action to protect democracy and the democratic traditions of India so that such an event never arises again.
This prompted the Congress leaders to hit back, accusing Mallikarjun Kharge of imposing an “undeclared Emergency” in the last 10 years, which the people of the country have ended by not giving the BJP a majority.
Kharge said the Prime Minister made a longer than usual customary address, “but clearly, even after the moral and political defeat, the arrogance remains”.
“Narendra Modi ji, you are giving advice to the opposition. You are reminding us of the 50-year-old Emergency, but have forgotten the last 10 years of Undeclared Emergency, which was ended by the people,” the Congress president said in a post on ‘X’.
The Protest
On the first day of the 18th Lok Sabha Session on Monday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi showed a copy of the Constitution to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he came to take oath as a member of the 18th Lok Sabha.
Besides Gandhi, other leaders such as Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Trinamool Congress’ Sudip Bandyopadhyay, and DMK’s TR Baalu gathered at the location where the Gandhi statue formerly stood in the Parliament complex.
While holding copies of the Constitution in their hands, slogans such as “Long live the Constitution,” “We will save the Constitution,” and “Save our democracy” were raised.
