Union Minister Scindia slams Cong over 'Emergency'; says 'Indira is India' slogan peak of arrogance

Guna, June 27 (IANS) Union Minister of Communications and Development of North East Region, Jyotiraditya Scindia, delivered a scathing critique of the Congress on Friday, accusing it of placing personal power above public interest -- especially during moments of political upheaval.

Speaking at a youth Parliament event organised by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, Scindia invoked the infamous 1975 slogan, “Indira is India, and India is Indira", calling it the “peak of political arrogance".

“When the Congress throne begins to tremble, the party junks the public issues and clings desperately to the individual seated upon it,” Scindia remarked, drawing a sharp contrast between the Congress’ historical conduct and the BJP’s professed “Nation First” ideology.

He described the Emergency -- imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi -- as a period when democracy was throttled, civil liberties suspended, and dissent silenced.

Union Minister Scindia, who left the Congress in 2020 to join the BJP, accused his former party of repeatedly crossing the “Laxman Rekha” that should separate democratic leadership from authoritarian overreach.

He further alleged that the Congress’ ideological core remains unchanged even half a century after the Emergency, continuing to prioritise dynastic loyalty over democratic accountability.

The minister also criticised the Congress for what he called its “selective reverence” for B.R. Ambedkar.

He claimed that the same party now demanding Ambedkar’s statue at the Gwalior High Court once forced him to resign from the Cabinet and fielded candidates to defeat him in elections.

Union Minister Scindia’s remarks are part of a broader BJP campaign to mark June 25 as “Samvidhan Hatya Diwas”, aimed at reminding the public of what the party calls the darkest chapter in India’s democratic history. Meanwhile, the Congress has accused the BJP of weaponising history to divert attention from present-day governance failures.

"My grandmother Vijaya Raje Scindia, along with Atal Bihari Vajpayee and others had strongly opposed the Emergency. They tried to suppress her voice, but they could not succeed. This what Scindia family is, and I want to tell it today to this Congress," Scindia said.

Hitting further at the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, the Union Minister said that the latter accused the BJP of "suppressing" the Opposition's voice.

"He says he wasn't allowed to speak in Parliament and opposition's voice is being suppressed. Then, I would say that he should think about the people's suppression during the Emergency," Scindia said without taking Rahul Gandhi's name.

Meanwhile, the BJP leader also took a jibe at the Congress-led Opposition bloc, saying that the founding members of many of these pollical parties were sent to jail during those 21-month of the Emergency.

In a similar programme organised in Bhopal, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav hit out at Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of maintaining the same "dictatorial" attitude his grandmother and former PM Indira Gandhi did in 1975.

"The Congress blamed the Election Commission of India and the BJP for its repeated defeats in electoral battles, which means that they have no trust in India's democratic system and institutions. He had even torn the former PM Manmohan Singh-led Congress government's ordinance in public," the Chief Minister said.

--IANS

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