In a grand statement Tuesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the emergency imposed by his grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was a “mistake.”
During a virtual conversation with Professor Kaushik Basu of Cornwell University in the United States, the deputy of Congress said that what happened during that period was “wrong”, but it was fundamentally different from the current scenario, since Congress at no time He tried to capture the institutionality of the country. framework.
“I think it was a mistake. Absolutely, that was a mistake. And my grandmother (Indira Gandhi) said the same thing,” he said.
The Emergency was imposed by Indira Gandhi for a period of 21 months from 1975 to 1977, when the fundamental rights of citizens were restricted.
Gandhi further said that his party has never abused India’s institutional framework.
Targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party, Gandhi alleged that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is doing something “fundamentally different” and filling the country’s institutions with its people. He added that even if the BJP were defeated in the elections, it is an impossible task to get rid of its people in the institutional structure.
LIVE: My interaction with Professor Kaushik Basu @Cornell University https://t.co/GfErZtSpW2
– Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 2, 2021
Rahul Gandhi further revealed that he was criticized and attacked by Congressional leaders for demanding party elections at the Youth Congress and NSUI levels. “I am the first person to say that democratic elections within the party are absolutely critical,” he said.
Gandhi, however, wondered why no one asks questions to the BJP, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) about the lack of internal democracy. He added that the question of internal democracy is presented to Congress because “we are an ideological party whose ideology is that of the Constitution and equality.”
When asked about the death of his father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, he said the incident “made him understand the violence.”
Gandhi added that he saw his father’s death coming while fighting many forces at the time.
Rahul Gandhi, in his conversation with Professor Basu, also criticized the BJP government for keeping the media and the judiciary in check.
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