'BJP got rattled': Mallikarjun Kharge slams PM Modi's Emergency reminder; calls it a cover-up for failures

NEW DELHI: After Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Samvidhan Hatya Diwas" reminder on the completion of 50 years of Emergency imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of marking the day to hide its own "failures and repeated lies."

Addressing a press conference, Kharge claimed that the BJP was rattled by Congress's 'Samvidhan Bachao Yatra' and started talking about the 50th anniversary of the Emergency.

"We are facing an undeclared emergency in the country today. The BJP got rattled by our 'Samvidhan Bachao Yatra' and started talking about 50 years of Emergency," Kharge said.


"Those who could not do much during their tenure, also could not give any answers on issues of unemployment, inflation and demonetisation, are doing this (marking 50 years of imposition of Emergency as 'Samvidhan Hatya Diwas') to hide their failures and repeated lies," he added.

This comes hours after PM Modi called the imposition of Emergency "the darkest chapters in India’s history" and said that the values enshrined in the Constitution were set aside and Congress placed democracy under arrest.

"Today marks fifty years since one of the darkest chapters in India’s democratic history, the imposition of the Emergency. The people of India mark this day as Samvidhan Hatya Diwas. On this day, the values enshrined in the Indian Constitution were set aside, fundamental rights were suspended, press freedom was extinguished and several political leaders, social workers, students and ordinary citizens were jailed. It was as if the Congress Government in power at that time placed democracy under arrest!" PM Modi said in a post on X.

"We salute every person who stood firm in the fight against the Emergency! These were the people from all over India, from all walks of life, from diverse ideologies who worked closely with each other with one aim: to protect India’s democratic fabric and to preserve the ideals for which our freedom fighters devoted their lives. It was their collective struggle that ensured that the then Congress Government had to restore democracy and call for fresh elections, which they badly lost," he added.