Indira Gandhi unleashed ruthless atrocities on people of India during Emergency: Amit Shah

NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday criticised the Congress party on the 50th anniversary of the Emergency for its autocratic actions and said that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi unleashed ruthless atrocities on the people of India during the Emergency.

Shah also quoted an old speech of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, accusing the party of crushing the spirit of our Constitution for power retention.

Amit Shah in a post on X said, "The Congress crushed the spirit of our Constitution several times for the sake of maintaining a certain family in power. Indira Gandhi unleashed ruthless atrocities on the people of India during the Emergency".

Amit Shah said, "The yuvraj of the Congress party has forgotten that his grandmother imposed the Emergency and his father, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, on July 23, 1985, said in the Lok Sabha, taking much pride in this horrific episode, "There is nothing wrong with an Emergency."

His post added, "Mr Rajiv Gandhi even said, "If any Prime Minister of this country who feels that an Emergency is necessary, under these circumstances and does not apply the Emergency, he is not fit to be the Prime Minister of this country."

"This very act of taking pride in a dictatorial act shows that nothing else is dear to the Congress other than the family and power," Amit Shah added.

Earlier, Prime Minister Modi in sharp criticism of the Congress said that the dark days of the Emergency are a reminder of how the Congress Party trampled over the Constitution of India.

Taking to X PM Modi posted, "Today is a day to pay homage to all those great men and women who resisted the emergency. The Dark Days of Emergency remind us of how the Congress Party subverted basic freedoms and trampled over the Constitution of India, which every Indian respects greatly."

He further said that just to cling on to power, the then Congress government disregarded every democratic principle.

"Just to cling on to power, the then Congress government disregarded every democratic principle and made the nation into a jail. Any person who disagreed with Congress was tortured and harassed. Socially regressive policies were unleashed to target the weakest sections" the prime minister wrote.

The Emergency, which is considered to be one of the most controversial periods of independent India's history, was imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from June 25, 1975, to 1977.

There were political arrests, mass forced sterilisation and beautification drives among others during the period.

All key opposition leaders at the time, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, and Jay Prakash Narayanan, among others, were either jailed or placed under detention.