Ray, not Indira, to blame for Emergency: Dhawan

New Delhi, June 23 

The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi seemed visibly relieved when she was told that she had lost the 1977 General Election, her former aide R.K. Dhawan has said.

Dhawan, who in June 1975 was Indira Gandhi's trusted private secretary, also told India Today Television that the person who should be blamed for the Emergency rule is then West Bengal Chief Minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray.

In his first and so far only comprehensive TV interview on the Emergency, Dhawan has revealed the full inside story of that turbulent period when thousands of opposition leaders and activists were jailed and democratic rights were curbed.

Dhawan said that Indira Gandhi called the 1977 Lok Sabha election after being told by the Intelligence Bureau that she would win up to 340 seats in the Lok Sabha. Her principal secretary PN Dhar gave her the report. 

Cabinet minister Jagjivan Ram's break with Indira Gandhi came as a surprise. It made her realize the election campaign would be difficult but she didn't think she would lose.

Dhawan said it was he who broke the news to Indira Gandhi that she — and the Congress party — had lost the 1977 election. 

She was then having dinner. According to Dhawan, relief broke out over her face and she said she would now have time for herself and the family.  — IANS