Indore, June 25 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, on Wednesday, hit out at the Congress, accusing it of continuing to carry the same “dictatorial mindset” that, according to him, marked the 21-month Emergency imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.

Trivedi, who was in Indore to attend BJP’s programme — ‘Samvidhan Hatya Divas’ to mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, addressing a press conference said that the Congress made another mistake when its party leaders gave the slogan “Indira is India and India is Indira”.

The Rajya Sabha MP said that comparing India with one person (Indira Gandhi) was an insult to the country.

“Forget about the legendary people, even Lord Ram, Lord Krishna and Lord Buddha had addressed this land (Bharat) as motherland. And the Congress tried to put one person like Bharat Mata,” BJp leader Trivedi added.

Reiterating his attack at the Opposition, BJP leader Trivedi said that this slogan (“Indira is India and India is Indira”) wasn’t made by any ordinary Congress worker, but by the then Congress President Dev Kant Barooah.

“No Congress President has refuted this claim so far. It means that Congress is carrying the same dictatorial mindset, else they (Congress) would have issued a statement on it,” he added.

To mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, the Madhya Pradesh BJP unit organised ‘Samvidhan Hatya Divas’ programmes in different parts of the state, which were addressed by senior party leaders, including Union Ministers.

One such programme was organised at the BJP office in Bhopal, which was addressed by the Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Paatil and state party Chief V.D. Sharma.

Several other senior BJP leaders, including former State Home Minister Narottam Mishra addressed the ‘Samvidhan Hatya Divas’ programmes in different parts of Madhya Pradesh.

The Emergency was imposed just days after Indira Gandhi was convicted by the Allahabad High Court for electoral malpractice in a case filed by the socialist leader Raj Narain, who challenged her victory from the Raebareli Lok Sabha seat.

The conviction led to Indira Gandhi’s disqualification as a Member of Parliament and the Emergency allowed her to continue as the Prime Minister.

The oppressive Maintenance of Internal Security Act was passed during the Emergency period.

There was large-scale suspension of fundamental rights for the citizenry, detention and arrest of opposition leaders and critics, and press censorship.

–IANS

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