Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad on June 29 recalled the days of Emergency of 1975-77 and said that even though the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had put many leaders behind bars, she never abused him.
In a post shared on X channel, the RJD chief shared an article titled “The Sangh Silence in 1975” written by him and journalist Nalin Verma.
I was the convenor of the steering committee that Jayaprakash Narayan had set up to carry forward the movement against the excesses of Emergency imposed by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. “He was in jail for more than 15 months under the Security Maintenance Act (MISA).
He said: “My colleagues and | I don’t know if many BJP Ministers are speaking about Emergency today. We had not heard of Modi, J P Nadda and some other ministerial colleagues of the Prime Minister who today lecture us on the value of freedom.
The former Bihar chief minister said Indira Gandhi had sent many opposition leaders to jail at that time, but she never abused her.
“Indira Gandhi put many of us behind the bars, but she never abused us. Neither he nor his ministers called us “anti-nationals” or “anti-nationals”. They never gave a chance to miscreants to desecrate the memory of Babasaheb Ambedkar, the architect of our Constitution. 1975 is a blot on our democracy, but we must not forget who does not respect the opposition in 2024.
On June 25, 1975, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a 21-month emergency. It was withdrawn on March 21, 1977. In the subsequent general elections, Indira Gandhi was voted out of power, and the Janata Party government took over. Both Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi lost the elections from Rae Bareli and Amethi respectively.
However, the alliance of different parties broke down in 1979 and the Congress returned to power by winning 353 seats in the subsequent general elections. Indira Gandhi once again became the Prime Minister, and remained in the chair until her assassination in 1984.
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