BJP staging drama on Emergency to hide governance failure, undeclared emergency prevails: Kharge

Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his jibes on the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, he said a government which has no tolerance and does not allow fraternity and liberty to prosper has no right to lecture others.

New Delhi: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday called ruling BJP's commemoration of 50 years of Emergency a "big drama" to hide Narendra Modi government's "failure and falsehoods", even as the country reeled under "undeclared emergency".

Addressing a press conference at 'Indira Bhawan' here, Kharge also said a government with little tolerance and does not allow fraternity and liberty to prosper has no right to lecture others, as empty speeches will never fill stomachs. He said the BJP was "rattled" by the Congress' 'Samvidhan Bachao' programme, prompting it to launch a counter 'Samvidhan Hatya Divas'.

He also attacked the Election Commission saying it has become a "puppet" in the hands of the Modi government while referring to Maharashtra election results and reiterated the demand for returning to paper ballots.

In a separate statement, Congress said Indian democracy has been under a "systematic and dangerous" five-fold assault that can be best described as "Undeclared Emergency@11".

It claimed the government was weakening Parliament and eroding the autonomy of Constitutional bodies while there has been "unbridled hate speech and crackdown on civil liberties".

Attacking Modi, Kharge claimed no other Prime Minister had "so much fear" to meet people, as he referred to the top BJP leader not visiting Manipur since the ethnic violence started in the north-eastern state in May 2023. "If the Constitution is in trouble, it is because of you," Kharge charged.

Those who "played no role in the independence of the country, in framing the Constitution, and rejected Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution and burnt his effigy and photos of Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi" are raking up the Emergency, 50 years after it was imposed and the same people are now talking of saving the Constitution, he said.

"The BJP-RSS had rejected the Constitution claiming that it does not have elements of Indian culture and Manusmriti. They (BJP-RSS) did all this and have now been suddenly enlightened...These people failed in governance, their failure is such that people are concerned over inflation, the government has no answer to unemployment, corruption and economic failure...To hide their failures, to not expose their weakness...Modi is staging this big drama," he said.

Alleging that the Constitution is in danger because of BJP's governance, he said there is an "undeclared emergency" in the country where there is no freedom of expression and where journalists are arrested or killed for their articles and students dubbed "anti-nationals" for raising their voice. "Do such people need to lecture us?" he asked.

Countering allegations against Indira Gandhi, the Congress chief said that one should not forget that the former Prime Minister supported the Morarji Desai government when it brought a bill to amend the provisions for imposing Emergency. While "internal disturbance" was one of the reasons for imposing Emergency, the 44th Amendment in 1978 replaced it with "armed rebellion".

Referring to the Pahalgam terror attack, he said they had demanded a special session but Modi did not agree to hold an all-party meeting or a special Parliament session. "Instead, he said, 'I will go to Bihar, and you all hold the meeting', and began his election campaign there. If he cannot attend the meeting or listen to our concerns, it clearly shows how much he cares about the country," he said.

Kharge said a "scared" Modi also did not respond to US President Donald Trump's repeated assertion on ceasefire between India and Pakistan following Operation Sindoor.

He said economic inequality was increasing in the country with the rich becoming richer and the poor becoming poorer when a handful of industrialists were being benefitted.