Bhubaneswar, June 26: One of the root causes of the Emergency was "Indira Gandhi’s love for her family. She and her son, Sanjay Gandhi, and the family had the mentality of running the country. Even today, the Congress still has that feudal, dictatorial, and arrogant mentality."

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stated this while participating in a seminar titled “50 years of history of Congress’s attack on democracy” organized by the BJP in Bhubaneswar on Thursday.

Pradhan said the 'Emergency' imposed by the Congress on June 25, 1975 was a black mark on Indian democracy, which the country will never forget. The pain and torture that millions of patriots endured during that dark period to protect democratic rights is a dark chapter in history.

After the imposition of the "Emergency", the freedom of speech of the common Indian citizen was suppressed and the fourth pillar of freedom was also curtailed. The common Indian citizen was forcibly sterilized and freedom of speech was taken away. All opposition leaders were aggressively arrested and imprisoned and tortured, Pradhan said.

Top leaders of Odisha, Dr Harekrushna Mahatab, freedom fighters Nabakrushna Chowdhury, Malati Chowdhury, Puruth Mohan Pradhan, journalist Radhanath Rath and Biswa Bhushan Harichandan, Harishchandra Baxipatra were the victims of Indira Gandhi's authoritarian, intolerant and aggressive measures. There was opposition to broadcasting songs like Kishore Kumar's on All India Radio. At that time, the Gandhi family was so intolerant.

Today, the face of Congress has changed. But there has been no change in the authoritarian mentality. By losing the elections, Congress is opposing the electoral system of the country, Pradhan remarked.

There was a Congress government in 2004. In 2013, when Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister, the people who tore apart the cabinet decisions taken by the Congress government by calling them nonsense were Congress or Rahul Gandhi. At that time, the Prime Minister's remote was with Rahul Gandhi. Sonia Gandhi was the shadow PM. This is low mentality of the Congress party. Even after 50 years, it is necessary to remind us of the emergency situation," he said.

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