‘Atal Bihari Vajpayee would’ve also imposed emergency..,’ Sanjay Raut defends 1975 Emergency, cites ‘national security’

Citing 'national security' and curbing 'anarchy' in India, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday defended the 1975 Emergency.

Speaking on 25 June, which will be observed as Samvidhan Hatya Divas in remembrance of the 1975 Emergency, Raut slammed the BJP, saying, “They (BJP) have no work left.”

He further said that it has been 50 years, and people have forgotten the Emergency.

Also Read: Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas: Congress, other Opposition parties slam govt; ’will serve as a reminder’, says PM Modi

Shiv Sena leader added that the Emergency was imposed in this country because Some people wanted to spread anarchy. “An open announcement was made from Ramlila Maidan, our jawans; the army was told not to follow the orders of the government... So in such a situation, if Atal Bihari Vajpayee had been the Prime Minister, he would have also imposed it.”

Raut said, “It was a matter of national security; some people were making bombs in the country and were exploding bombs at various places... Shiv Sena leader Balasaheb Thackeray openly supported the Emergency in 1975. He openly supported Indira Gandhi. She was welcomed in Mumbai. He supported the emergency because he felt the anarchy in the country needed to be controlled. What was wrong with that?... What happened in 10 years of BJP rule will be remembered. They are also not the saviours of the Constitution.”

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge criticized the government's decision to designate June 25, the day Emergency was declared in 1975, as 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas', calling it another "headline-grabbing exercise in hypocrisy" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Kharge also accused the BJP of disrespecting Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar by associating the word “murder” with the revered term “Constitution”.

Also Read: Emergency, 49 years on: How Indian and foreign newspapers covered the nation’s darkest chapter in 1975 | A flashback

“From now on, every year on 8th November, people of India will celebrate 'Aajivika Hatya Diwas (Livelihood Killing Day)'. Its gazette notification will also be issued soon,” Ramesh said in another post on X.

Congress General Secretary (In-charge, Communications), Jairam Ramesh said, “Yet another headline-grabbing exercise in hypocrisy by the non-biological PM who had imposed an undeclared Emergency for ten long years before the people of India handed him a decisive personal, political, and moral defeat on June 4, 2024 - which will go down in history as Modi Mukti Diwas.”

In the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP, with 240 seats, fell short of a majority, but the NDA secured the mandate with 293 seats. The Congress bagged 99 seats, while the INDIA bloc got 234 seats. Following the polls, two Independents who won have also pledged support to the Congress, taking the INDIA bloc tally to 236. The results of the Lok Sabha polls were declared on June 4.

Also Read: The Emergency started long before 25 June 1975

Later, Ramesh also shared the video from Prime Minister Modi's November 8, 2016, speech when he announced demonetisation.

"From now on, every year on 8th November, people of India will celebrate 'Aajivika Hatya Diwas (Livelihood Killing Day)'. Its gazette notification will also be issued soon," Ramesh said in another post on X.

Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) made the announcement in a gazette notification pointing "a proclamation of Emergency was made on 25th June 1975, following which there was gross abuse of power by the government of the day and people of India were subjected to excesses and atrocities".

The notification reads “Whereas, people of India have abiding faith in the Constitution of India and the power of India's resilient democracy; Therefore, Government of India declares 25 June as 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas' to pay tribute to all those who suffered and fought against the gross abuse of power during the period of Emergency and to recommit the people of India to not support in any manner such gross abuse of power, in future”.

(With inputs from agencies)