BJP turns the tables: Reminds Congress of 1975 Emergency, Article 356 ‘misuse’

New Delhi, May 26 The BJP on Monday turned the tables on the Congress, calling out the grand old party’s “undeclared Emergency” barb as a case of staggering hypocrisy. Marking 11 years of the Narendra Modi government, senior BJP leaders lashed out at the Gandhi family-led party, reminding the nation of the Congress' own authoritarian legacy — from the 1975 Emergency to repeated misuse of Article 356.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi led the charge, slamming the Congress for what he called a “dishonest misrepresentation of facts”, and mocked its sudden concern for democracy and free speech.

“It is deeply ironic that a party dominated by a single family is now speaking about democracy and freedom of speech,” Joshi said in a post on X.

As the Congress attempted to paint PM Modi’s 11-year tenure as a “nightmare”, the BJP pointed to the ongoing crackdown on media voices in Congress-ruled Karnataka, accusing the party of operating with “dictatorial” intent while hiding behind the facade of democratic values.

Earlier, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh sparked the political row with a sharp post on social media: “Today is May 26, 2025. Today is Undeclared Emergency @11.”

AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge followed suit, launching a broader attack on PM Modi-led government’s track record.

“In 11 years, by turning big ‘promises’ into ‘empty claims’, the Modi government has ruined the country in such a way that the promise of ‘achche din’ has now proven to be a nightmare,” Kharge posted in Hindi on X.

The BJP hit back strongly, accusing the Congress of hypocrisy and authoritarian behaviour at the state level, particularly in Karnataka. Union Minister Pralhad Joshi wrote on X: “It is deeply ironic that a party dominated by a single family is now speaking about democracy and freedom of speech.”

He reminded the Congress of its own record, saying it “misused Article 356 over a hundred times to topple democratically elected governments and declared a national Emergency for personal and political gain in 1975".

Pralhad Joshi also cited recent developments in Karnataka, where the Congress-led government has announced plans to file a defamation case against the state BJP over its campaign titled “charge sheet about the two-year failure of the state government".

The campaign reportedly accused the Congress government of corruption and poor governance.

"Its own government in Karnataka has issued a gag order, eerily reminiscent of the Emergency-era tactics. And now, they are targeting and attempting to arrest journalists and news anchors who express views critical of the party,” Joshi alleged.

In a more pointed attack, Joshi questioned the Congress' approach to press freedom, writing: “A question is troubling me – has Karnataka turned into a dictatorship like Hitler’s time?”

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