‘Indira Gandhi put us in jail, but never abused us': Lalu Prasad on Emergency
“The year 1975 is a stain on our democracy, but let's not forget who doesn't respect the Opposition in 2024,” RJD chief Lalu Prasad wrote
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad on Saturday recalled the days of the 1975-77 Emergency and said that even though then prime minister Indira Gandhi had put many leaders behind bars, but she never abused them.
In a post shared on X, the RJD chief shared his article “The Sangh Silence in 1975”, written by him and journalist Nalin Verma.
“I was the convener of the steering committee that Jayaprakash Narayan—had constituted to carry forward the movement against the excesses of Emergency imposed by the then PM Indira Gandhi. I was in jail under the Maintenance of Security Act (MISA) for over 15 months,” Lalu Prasad wrote in the post.
He added: “My colleagues and I did not know many of the BJP ministers speaking about the Emergency today. We hadn’t heard of Modi, J P Nadda and some of the PM’s other ministerial colleagues who today lecture us on the value of freedom.”
The former Bihar CM further said while Indira Gandhi had jailed many Opposition leaders of the time, but she never abused them.
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“Indira Gandhi put many of us behind bars, but she never abused us. Neither she nor her ministers called us “anti-national” or “unpatriotic”. She never enabled vandals to defile the memory of Babasaheb Ambedkar—the architect of our Constitution. 1975 is a stain on our democracy, but let's not forget who doesn't respect the Opposition in 2024," he added.
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On June 25, 1975, former prime minister Indira Gandhi imposed a 21-month state of emergency. It was lifted on March 21, 1977. In the subsequent general elections, Indira Gandhi was voted out of power, and the Janata Party government took office. Both Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi lost elections from Raebareli and Amethi respectively.
However, the alliance of disparate parties collapsed 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 held the chair until her assassination in 1984.
