Rajnath Singh: “Indira Gandhi Imposed Emergency, Choked Democracy”

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh slammed the Congress, reminding them of how former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi choked democracy by imposing an emergency in the country.

His comments came amid allegations by the Congress that if PM Modi-led BJP gets 400 seats after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, “democracy would be in danger.”
Addressing a public meeting in Haryana’s Karnal, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, “…They (the Congress) say if Prime Minister Narendra Modi gets more than 400 seats, it will put democracy in danger; he will become a dictator. But when Indira Gandhi lost her election before 1975, morally she should’ve resigned as a PM but she imposed the emergency and choked democracy…”

“Lakhs of people were put behind bars. At the age of 24, I was also jailed for two and a half months. Whoever wants to verify it, can do it. They (Congress) choked the democracy. My mother died due to shock when it was declared that the emergency had been extended by one year,” Rajnath Singh added.

On May 25, a single phase of the Lok Sabha elections for Haryana’s ten parliamentary constituencies will take place.

The BJP won every poll in Haryana during the 2019 state Lok Sabha elections, taking all ten seats. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) gained two seats and the Congress won one seat in the 2014 elections, leaving the BJP with seven seats.
Polling took place in its first five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, and May 20.

The following two voting rounds are scheduled for June 1 and May 25. Seven stages will comprise the six-week-long 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which will take place between April 19 and June 1. On June 4, the results and counting will be made public.