'INDIRA GANDHI PUT US IN JAIL BUT ... ': LALU YADAV ON EMERGENCY

NEW DELHI: Lalu Prasad Yadav the former chief minister of Bihar and the leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), reminisced about the hardships they endured during the Emergency period on Saturday. He mentioned that despite being imprisoned by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, she never resorted to verbal abuse against them.

In an article titled "The Sangh Silence in 1975," co-authored by Yadav and journalist Nalin Verma, they criticised the current BJP-led central government. While acknowledging that the Emergency of 1975 remains a blemish on India's democracy, they emphasised the importance of recognising who fails to respect the Opposition in the present day.

Yadav shared his personal experience, stating, "I was the convener of the steering committee that Jayaprakash Narayan--had constituted to carry forward the movement against the excesses of Emergency imposed by the then PM Indira Gandhi. I was in jail under the Maintenance of Security Act (MISA) for over 15 months. My colleagues and I did not know many of the BJP ministers speaking about the Emergency today. We hadn't heard of Modi, J P Nadda, and some of the PM's other ministerial colleagues who today lecture us on the value of freedom."

He further added, "Indira Gandhi put many of us behind bars, but she never abused us. Neither she nor her ministers called us "anti-national" or "unpatriotic". She never enabled vandals to defile the memory of Babasaheb Ambedkar--the architect of our Constitution. 1975 is a stain on our democracy but let's not forget who doesn't respect the Opposition in 2024."

The remarks made by President Droupadi Murmu during her address to the joint sitting of the Parliament, where she criticised the imposition of the Emergency, have elicited responses from the leaders of the INDIA bloc.

Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of attempting to gain cheap applause by making the President deliver a speech filled with lies, which he believes the people of India have already rejected in the 2024 elections.