Trinamool follows Congress’ authoritarian mindset that imposed 1975 Emergency, says Amit Malviya

Kolkata, June 25 BJP leader Amit Malviya has accused the Trinamool Congress of having the same “dynasty-driven, authoritarian mindset” of Congress that led the grand old party to impose Emergency in India in 1975.

Malviya’s statement comes in reaction to a recent development where Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member and former journalist Sagarika Ghose issued a statement indirectly justifying the Emergency imposed in 1975. Ghose also claimed in that statement that the Emergency was prompted because the RSS was pushing India towards anarchy.

“TMC MP Sagarika Ghose’s justification of the Emergency is no surprise. TMC is just a brutal offshoot of the same dynasty-driven, authoritarian mindset that imposed Emergency in 1975 - the mindset that fears dissent and thrives on submission,” Malviya said in a statement which he posted on his official X handle on Wednesday morning.

At the same time, he accused Ghose of deliberately being silent on certain developments during the Emergency period for obvious reasons.

According to him, the points on which Ghose had remained silent included the suspension of democracy and the crushing of civil liberties after the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed an emergency on June 25, 1975.

Malviya also accused Ghose of remaining silent on other developments during the Emergency period, like the arrest of then RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras and senior BJP (then Jana Sangh) leaders like former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, ex-Union Home Minister L.K. Advani, current Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, among others.

“On 4 July 1975, RSS was officially banned. Out of 1.3 lakh Satyagrahis arrested, over 1 lakh were from the RSS. 25,000 of the 30,000 detained under MISA were Sangh Karyakartas. A young Narendra Modi worked underground, mobilizing resistance across the country,” Malviya’s statement read.

According to the BJP's Information Technology Cell Chief and the party’s central observer for West Bengal, the event of Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member defending the “tyranny” was quite expected when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee once labelled a university student as a Maoist for asking questions.

“Tyranny is in their blood. They can never understand sacrifice - because their politics is built on blind obedience and inherited power. Emergency wasn’t just a Congress crime - it’s a mindset that TMC proudly carries forward,” Malviya said.

The Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, too, issued a statement in the morning, where he said that it is necessary to observe June 25 every year as “Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas” to ensure that Indians remember the perils of dictatorship resulting from that Emergency.

Earlier this month, CM Mamata Banerjee told media persons that “Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas” as mandated by the Union government would not be observed in the state on June 25.

Reacting to the Union government's communiques to different state governments asking the latter to observe June 25 as the ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’, the Chief Minister said the decision of the Centre in the matter was nothing but a “mockery” of democracy and the Indian Constitution.

“Does the current Union government care for democratic norms? Is democracy prevailing in the country in the true sense now? So ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’ will not be observed in West Bengal,” the Chief Minister said.

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