"June 25, 1975, came as a thunderbolt for people of this country": Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], June 25 (ANI): Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma said that the night of June 25, 1975, came as a thunderbolt for this country as people were put in jail and the press was also banned.
Speaking at an event at the Rajasthan International Center, CM Sharma told reporters, "Congress has murdered democracy; June 25 is celebrated as a black day. The night of June 25, 1975, came as a thunderbolt to the people of this country. People were put in jail. The press was also banned. Congress has misused the Constitution."
"They (Congress) have also toppled the democratically elected governments and divided the country into casteism and appeasement," CM Sharma added.
Earlier, Prime Minister Modi, in sharp criticism of the Congress, said that the dark days of the Emergency are a reminder of how the Congress Party trampled over the Constitution of India.
Taking to X, PM Modi posted, "Today is a day to pay homage to all those great men and women who resisted the emergency. The Dark Days of Emergency remind us of how the Congress Party subverted basic freedoms and trampled over the Constitution of India, which every Indian respects greatly."
He further said that just to cling on to power, the then Congress government disregarded every democratic principle.
"Just to cling on to power, the then Congress government disregarded every democratic principle and made the nation into a jail. Any person who disagreed with Congress was tortured and harassed. Socially regressive policies were unleashed to target the weakest sections," the prime minister wrote.
Naidu on Tuesday said that the Emergency of 1975 had tainted the country's democracy and there should be a lesson in textbooks for students to be made aware of how it came to be imposed in the country.
The Emergency, which is considered to be one of the most controversial periods of independent India's history, was imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from June 25, 1975, to 1977.
There were political arrests, mass forced sterilisation and beautification drives, among others during the period.
All key opposition leaders at the time, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, and Jay Prakash Narayanan, among others, were either jailed or placed under detention. (ANI)