'They Have No Right To Profess Love For Our Constitution': PM Modi Leads BJP's Attack On Congress On 50th Anniversary Of Emergency

In a concerted effort to counter the Opposition's Constitution narrative during the first Parliament session after the Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to social media to mark the 50th anniversary of the Emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi-led Congress government on 25 June 1975.

"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," Prime Minister Modi said in a X post on Tuesday (25 June).

"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 the Congress was tortured and harassed. Socially regressive policies were unleashed to target the weakest sections," he said.

Further slamming the Congress, PM Modi said, "Those who imposed the Emergency have no right to profess their love for our Constitution. 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".

He said that "the mindset which led to the imposition of the Emergency is very much alive among the same Party which imposed it".

"They hide their disdain for the Constitution through their tokenism but the people of India have seen through their antics and that is why they have rejected them time and again," he added.

Setting the tone for a united offensive, the Prime Minister had addressed the media at the beginning of the new session yesterday, marking June 25 as 50 years since a "black spot on Indian democracy."

He stated, "The new generation will not forget how the Indian Constitution was scrapped, the country turned into a jail and democracy captured. In this 50th anniversary, the country will take a pledge that never again will it happen."

The Prime Minister's remarks drew a sharp response from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who accused the Prime Minister of ignoring the "undeclared Emergency in the last 10 years."

The Opposition, which made 'protecting the Constitution' a key plank in this general election, showcased their strength in Parliament yesterday as MPs from the INDIA bloc held up copies of the Constitution.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, speaking to the media, said, "We will not allow the attack on the Constitution that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are doing. This attack is not acceptable to us," NDTV reported.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah also weighed in, tweeting that the Congress has a history of "murdering democracy," with the Emergency of 1975 being the biggest example.

He highlighted that the Congress suspended citizens' rights for 21 months to stay in power, imposed media censorship, changed the Constitution, and tied the hands of the judiciary, lauding the struggle of people from all walks of life who protested against the Emergency.

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