‘Undeclared emergency in the country’: Gehlot counters PM Modi’s statement
PM Modi in Parliament said, ‘Had there been no Congress, there would be no Emergency. India would be free of dynastic rule and would tread on the path of Swadeshi instead of being influenced by a foreign mindset.’
JAIPUR: Countering Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement in parliament over the emergency of 1975, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday said there is an undeclared emergency in the country.
“Today there is an undeclared emergency in the country. Even senior BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leader Lal Krishna Advani hinted the same after the government formed but after pressure from RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), he became silent,” Gehlot told newspersons, hitting back at the Prime Minister’s statement.
PM Modi in Parliament said, “Had there been no Congress, there would be no Emergency. India would be free of dynastic rule and would tread on the path of Swadeshi instead of being influenced by a foreign mindset. Had there been no Congress, poor would get electricity and water.”
Gehlot said, “What’s the need to point it out…everyone knows the emergency was there. What were the reasons, what were the shortcomings and achievements – this could be a subject of research. But when PM Modi says that he will expose the shortcomings that happened in the last 70 years, if this is what he wants, then when will (he) create history.”
“The country knows that the emergency was imposed, a decision was taken, and thereafter the sitting government had to go,” he said.
The CM said Modi’s statement in Parliament is unfortunate. “Today there is an atmosphere of violence, unrest, tension, and distrust - these are the allegations we are levelling against NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government and BJP, and RSS and Modi. But on the contrary, they are saying that we are provoking people. Congress has always believed in non-violence, sacrifice and truth,” he said.
Congress is known for making sacrifices, even before independence and after independence - that is why today the country is one, with unity in diversity, he said.
“You (BJP) people have made mistakes, because of which there was a sudden lockdown and suddenly there was a demonetisation… huge lines were there outside banks, and many got killed in those lines,” Gehlot alleged.
Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Mukesh Pareek said the Congress is continuously provoking people in the name of caste, religion and farmers. “They are creating an atmosphere of unrest in the country. By making baseless accusations, they are misguiding people, which is unjustified. The people are teaching lessons to the Congress wherever elections are taking place. Instead of levelling charges, they should introspect why they are being rejected by people,” he said.
