New Delhi, June 25 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will observe ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’ (Constitution Murder Day) across Bihar, Haryana and several other parts of the country on Thursday to commemorate the anniversary of the Emergency imposed by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.

As part of the nationwide observance, the party has planned a series of programmes highlighting what it describes as the impact of the Emergency on democratic institutions and civil liberties.

In Bihar, events will be conducted at around 90,000 booths across the state. Union Health Minister and BJP national president J.P. Nadda is scheduled to honour nearly 450 ‘JP fighters’ and ‘Democracy warriors’ at Gyan Bhavan in Patna in recognition of their role during the anti-Emergency movement.

Speaking at a joint press conference at the BJP’s Bihar state office, party state vice-presidents and former legislators Haribhushan Thakur Bachol and Pawan Jaiswal alleged that the Emergency period witnessed the curtailment of citizens’ fundamental rights and attempts to weaken democratic institutions in order to retain political power.

Pawan Jaiswal announced that district-level workers’ conferences would be organised in all 52 organisational districts of Bihar between June 30 and July 6. He also said student conferences would be held across five administrative divisions under the joint banner of the BJP’s youth and women’s wings.

In Haryana, BJP leaders also marked the occasion by describing the Emergency as one of the darkest periods in India’s democratic journey.

Addressing a press conference at the party’s state headquarters, Panchkamal, Yamunanagar MLA Ghanshyam Das Arora said the Congress, which frequently speaks about safeguarding the Constitution, should first reflect on its actions during the Emergency declared on June 25, 1975.

He alleged that the Congress government at the time restricted democratic freedoms, weakened institutional autonomy and imposed curbs on freedom of expression.

Arora further claimed that thousands of democracy activists, political workers, journalists and social activists were imprisoned during the period, while strict censorship was imposed on the media.

According to him, organisations such as the RSS and the erstwhile Jana Sangh strongly opposed the Emergency and launched movements across the country demanding the restoration of democratic rights and constitutional governance.

He added that the observance of ‘Constitution Murder Day’ was intended to honour those who struggled for the restoration of democracy and to educate younger generations about the events and consequences of the Emergency era.

The Haryana BJP leader announced that a special programme would be held at 5 p.m. on Thursday at Atal Sabhagar, located at the BJP headquarters in Panchkula.

–IANS

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