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BJP, Congress trade barbs on 45th anniversary of emergency
Shah criticized the Congress not allowing other leaders to put forth their opinions.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress traded accusations about lack of democracy in their respective political parties on the 45th anniversary of the Emergency on Thursday.
Union home minister Amit Shah attacked the Congress and said the opposition party should ask why the “Emergency mindset” continues. He made a pointed reference to Tuesday’s Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, where former union minister RPN Singh had called for refraining from direct attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Singh, who is in-charge of the party’s affairs in Jharkhand, insisted Congress leaders should criticise the government’s policies and raise people-centric issues.
However, he was countered by all senior and young leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who praised former Congress president Rahul Gandhi for taking on Modi.
For his part, Rahul Gandhi has said he will continue to attack the prime minister, adding “it is Modi alone who formulates policies and takes all decisions” in the government.
“I cannot attack Rajnath Singh or Nirmala Sitharaman or anyone else. All decisions are taken by Modi. He is the defence minister, the finance minister, the education minister…everything, and I am not scared of him. If the CWC doesn’t want me to attack him, I will stop it,” Rahul Gandhi was quoted as saying at the meeting by a Congress functionary.
Singh then clarified that all he wanted was a calibrated attack on the government on its policies and decisions.
In a series of tweets to mark the 45th anniversary of the Emergency, Shah took a dig at the Congress leadership and the Gandhi family without naming it.
“During the recent CWC meet, senior members and younger members raised a few issues. But, they were shouted down. A party Spokesperson was unceremoniously sacked. The sad truth is – leaders are feeling suffocated in Congress,” he tweeted and attached a link to a news report about the proceedings at the CWC.
Shah’s comment was in reference to the removal of Sanjay Jha as the party’s spokesperson, after he criticised and questioned the Congress leadership in an opinion piece.
In a separate tweet, Shah said, “As one of India’s opposition parties, Congress needs to ask itself: why does the emergency mindset remain? Why are the leaders who don’t belong to one dynasty unable to speak up? Why are leaders getting frustrated in Congress? Else, the disconnect with the people will keep widening.”
Shah said it was due to the efforts of lakhs of people that the Emergency was lifted, but democracy is still missing in the Congress. “Democracy was restored in India but it remained absent in the Congress. The interests of one family prevailed over party interests and national interests. This sorry state of affairs thrives in today’s Congress too!” he tweeted.
The Congress vehemently denied these allegations, but Shah pinned the blame for the Emergency on the Gandhi family, without naming names. He said, “On this day 45 years ago, one family’s greed for power led to the imposition of the Emergency and turned the nation in to a prison. The press, the courts, free speech…all were trampled over. Atrocities were committed on the poor and the downtrodden.”
Shah’s comments drew a sharp response from Congress leaders.
Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted, “And so spoke those, who occupied present positions by forcibly retiring & humiliating every patriarch & colleague who built them. And the list is long....Sh. L.K. Advani, Sh. M.M.Joshi, Sh. Keshubhai Patel, Sh. Kalraj Mishra, Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Sh. Haren Pandya, Sh. Sanjay Joshi.”
Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh questioned Shah’s statement and said the Congress party considers the Gandhi family a binding force.
“Who in Congress is opposed to Rahul ji or Priyanka ji? Name one senior leader? Whole Congress unitedly stands with Nehru Gandhi Family. They are the binding force. What is more important is the ideological clarity among Congress leaders junior or senior which is harming the Party,” he tweeted.
In a separate tweet, Singh said, “Rather it’s lack of Ideological Clarity that leads to ambiguous stand. Why do some shy away from fighting RSS? It’s divisive Ideology of Polarisation & Anti Poor, Anti Farmer, Anti Labour policies are destroying the Unity & Integrity of India, destroying its Socio Economic fabric.”
