Emergency Anniversary: BJP Slams Congress 'Dynastic Arrogance', Recalls 1975 Crackdown on Democracy

Gadwal: On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Emergency imposed in India on June 25, 1975, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) organized a press meet at its Aija town office, presided over by local BJP town president Kampati Bhagat Reddy. The event marked a strong criticism of the Congress party's historical actions during the Emergency period and its continued "dynastic mindset."

Bhagat Reddy, while addressing the media, condemned what he called the "illusion of Congress" that the office of the Prime Minister is a birthright of one family and that India’s freedom and future lies only within their grip. He described this mindset as a deeply rooted arrogance of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

He recounted that on the midnight of June 25, 1975, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, based on her recommendation, had President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declare a national emergency under Article 352(1) of the Indian Constitution. This was in response to the Allahabad High Court's verdict on June 12, which had invalidated Indira Gandhi’s election, and the Supreme Court’s conditional stay on June 25, 1975. Prominent opposition leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan and Morarji Desai had then demanded her resignation.

Bhagat Reddy accused the Congress party of treating the entire country as its private property. He said, “That family believes it has unrestricted power to crush India’s independence for any reason, at any time. Their faith in their own superiority is so deep that they act as if democracy is theirs to suspend.”

He further stated, “Just 28 years after Prime Minister Nehru spoke about the first moments of India's freedom at the stroke of midnight in 1947, his own daughter, Indira Gandhi, plunged the country into darkness, imposing dictatorship through a single stroke of the pen.”

Reddy highlighted the brutal impacts of the Emergency — mass arrests, public beatings, suppression of media freedom, forced sterilizations, and a complete breakdown of citizens' fundamental rights. He said these events reminded the people of British colonial rule, and Emergency-era policies inflicted deep psychological trauma on Indian society that still lingers.

He described how during the Emergency, the judiciary was gagged, citizens were deprived of basic legal recourse, and the freedom of the press — the fourth pillar of democracy — was crushed.

“As we mark 50 years since that dark chapter in Indian democracy,” Reddy said, “it is a moment of reflection for all democracy-loving citizens. We must remember and analyze this history. It is the responsibility of every generation to retell the past, learn from it, and ensure it is never repeated.”

Several other BJP leaders also attended the program, including Kisan Morcha president Veeresh Goud, K. Rajasekhar, Gadiga Raghu, and Raju, among others.

The event concluded with a call to younger generations to remain vigilant and uphold democratic values, so that such an abuse of constitutional power is never repeated.