Union Minister Harsh Mahajan slams Congress for imposing Emergency in 1975

Union Minister of State for Road, Transport & Highways and Corporate Affairs Harsh Mahajan launched a scathing attack on the Congress party on Thursday, marking the 50th anniversary of the imposition of the Emergency in India.

Speaking to a section of the media in Dharamsala, Mahajan said on June 25, 1975, the democracy in India was “killed” by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who imposed Emergency by citing vague internal and external threats to the country.

“This decision was not the result of any war or rebellion,” he stated. “It was an act of desperation aimed at stalling elections and clinging to power.”

Mahajan alleged that the Emergency was triggered by legal challenges to Indira Gandhi's election and an effort to subvert democratic processes. During this period, he said the judiciary, legislature and executive were brought under tight control. The freedom of the press was crushed, electricity supply to major newspapers was cut, censorship was brutally enforced and hundreds of journalists were jailed.

The Union Minister also levelled serious accusations against Indira Gandhi's younger son late Sanjay Gandhi, saying he wielded unchecked power despite holding no official position. He highlighted the controversial forced sterilisation campaign, stating that more than 60 lakh people, aged between 16 and 70, were sterilized within a year under coercive measures.

Mahajan referred to the Shah Commission, set up in 1977 to probe the Emergency excesses, which submitted its report on August 6, 1978, concluding that the Emergency had no constitutional basis. However, he said, when the Congress returned to power in 1980, the report was destroyed by it.

Recalling the ADM Jabalpur versus Shivkant Shukla case, Mahajan said the Congress government had argued in court that even if the citizens were shot during Emergency, they would have no right to legal recourse. He praised Justice HR Khanna, the lone dissenting judge, who ruled in favour of civil liberties, but he was later denied the Chief Justice’s post.

Criticising the Congress for what he termed as “hypocrisy”, Mahajan said, “Today the Congress talks of constitutional values, but it was the same party that once dissolved the Press Council of India to suppress media freedom.” He also alleged that the Congress continued to support purveyors of fake news on digital media and targets its ideological rivals through legal harassment.

Mahajan urged the citizens, especially the youth, to remember the dark days of Emergency and remain vigilant to safeguard democratic values.