BJP leaders launch sharp attack on Congress on 1975 Emergency anniversary

The BJP on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on the Congress on the 49th anniversary of the Emergency, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah saying it is the biggest example of the opposition party's long history of killing democracy and harming it repeatedly.

BJP president J P Nadda said on 'X' that those who claim to be the guardians of Indian democracy today had spared no efforts to suppress the voices raised in the defence of constitutional values.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the Emergency, imposed by the then-prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1975 before she lifted it in 1977 and called for elections, is a black chapter in Indian democracy which cannot be forgotten.

Dictatorship and misuse of power were on brazen display during the period, Singh said on 'X', adding that it raises a big question mark on the commitment to democracy of several political parties.

The BJP's trenchant criticism of the Congress came amid a coordinated campaign by opposition parties to paint the ...