New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi while attending an event organized by Cornell University yesterday said that the Emergency imposed by the late former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from 1975 to 77 was “absolutely wrong”.
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The leader further added that during Emergency, during which time constitutional rights and civil liberties were suspended, the media was severely restricted and many opposition leaders were jailed, was “fundamentally different from the current scenario”.
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“I think that was a mistake. Absolutely, that was a mistake. And my grandmother (Mrs Gandhi) said as much. (But) the Congress at no point attempted to capture India’s institutional framework…frankly, it does not even have that capability,” Mr Gandhi said in a conversation with renowned economist Kaushik Basu. Our (the Congress’) design does not allow us (to do),” he stressed.
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Congress has been frequently at the receiving end by the ruling BJP whose leaders were among those jailed during the Emergency, particularly when faced with accusations it too is curtailing freedom of speech and the right to dissent.
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