Congressman Rahul Gandhi had a virtual interaction with prominent economist Kaushik Basu
New Delhi:
The emergency, imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for 21 months from 1975 to 1977, was a “mistake” and what happened in that period was “wrong,” Congress deputy Rahul Gandhi said Tuesday in a conversation with the president. renowned economist Kaushik. Basu.
Gandhi also said that the period of Emergency, during which constitutional rights and civil liberties were suspended, the media was severely restricted and many opposition leaders were imprisoned, was “fundamentally different from the current scenario.”
“I think it was a mistake. Absolutely, it was a mistake. And my grandmother (Mrs Gandhi) said the same thing. (But) Congress at no point tried to capture the institutional framework of India … frankly, not even that capacity. “Gandhi told Basu.
“Our design (of Congress) does not allow us (to do),” he emphasized.
LIVE: My interaction with Professor Kaushik Basu @Cornell University https://t.co/GfErZtSpW2
– Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 2, 2021
The ruling BJP, whose leaders were among those jailed during the Emergency, has frequently attacked Congress on this issue, particularly when faced with accusations that it is also restricting freedom of expression and the right to dissent, and intimidating members of the public. means for them to submit.
In June last year, Interior Minister Amit Shah targeted Congress and Gandhis in a series of tweets, saying that “a family’s greed for power” turned the nation into an overnight “prison”. morning.
“The press, the courts, freedom of speech … everything was trampled on. Atrocities were committed against the poor and oppressed,” Shah tweeted.
However, Gandhi said on Tuesday that there was a “fundamental difference” between what happened between 1975 and 1977 and what is happening today, namely the RSS (the BJP’s ideological mentor is filling the institutions with his people.
“So even if we defeat the BJP in the elections, we are not going to get rid of its people in the institutional structure,” he said.
“Modern democracies work because there is an institutional balance … The institutions operate independently. That independence is under attack in India (by) a great institution called RSS … which is done systematically … I would not say that the democracy is eroding, I would say it is being strangled, “he added.
Gandhi recalled a conversation with Madhya Pradesh’s former chief minister, Kamal Nath, before his government was overthrown. Kamal Nath told him, Gandhi said, that top bureaucrats in his government would not follow his orders, as they asserted their loyalty to the RSS.
“So what is happening is fundamentally different,” Rahul Gandhi said.
In December last year, the Supreme Court said it would examine whether the Emergency could be declared “totally unconstitutional” after so many years. The center was asked to respond to this question, following a request submitted by a 94-year-old woman.
Gandhi also touched on divisions within his party, divisions that were highlighted on Tuesday in an exchange between Bengal’s head of Congress, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, and former Union Minister Anand Sharma, who is part of the G-23. calling for radical organizational changes.
“I am the first person to say that democratic elections within the party are absolutely critical, but I am interested that this question is not asked about any other political party. No one asked why there is no internal democracy in the BJP, the BSP and the Party. Samajwadi “. ” he said.
With input from PTI
.
