Rahul Gandhi should apologise for Emergency: J.P. Nadda

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union Minister JP Nadda said on Thursday, June 25, 2025, that Rahul Gandhi should apologize to the people of the country for his grandmother’s ‘anti-Constitution actions’. He said this in Patna while speaking at the Samvidhan Hatya Diwas (Constitution Day) program organized by the Bihar unit of the BJP on the 51st anniversary of the ‘Emergency’ declared by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on June 25, 1975.

Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, Union Minister Giriraj Singh and MP Radha Mohan Singh, along with several Ministers, MPs, MLAs and party officials from both the Central and Bihar governments attended the event where a large number of JP Senanis (persons involved in the JP movement in the 1970s) were felicitated.

‘The darkest chapter’

Mr. Nadda described the Emergency as the darkest chapter in the history of Indian democracy. He alleged that the Congress government was strangling democracy, the Constitution, judiciary, freedom of press and citizens’ rights by imposing Emergency on the nation.

“Bihar is the birthplace of the historic struggle to preserve democracy under the leadership of Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan,” the Union Minister said. He added that the movement united the country against dictatorship. “Even the British did not resort to such brutal tactics against the people as Indira Gandhi did during the Emergency. Millions of people across the country, including Bihar, endured the tortures of the dictatorial government.”

He also said democracy was being stifled by forced sterilization efforts. He claimed: “According to data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, around 1.1 million people were sterilized during that period; about 80 lakh people in 1975 and 1976 alone. The campaign had such a serious impact that young men in villages were running away when a doctor arrived for fear of forced sterilisation. This figure was larger than the population of Greece at that time.”

Rahul, excavations in INDI block

The Union Minister claimed that they introduced the 42nd Constitutional amendment during the Emergency period and increased the term of office of elected representatives from 5 years to 6 years. “While in power, they passed a law stating that courts cannot take cases against them. Indira Gandhi’s grandchildren are walking around carrying the Constitution book, but they do not know even a single provision of the Constitution. Before taking the Constitution book, Rahul Gandhi should apologize to the people of the country for his grandmother’s anti-Constitution actions,” Nadda added.

He claimed that the activities of the INDI alliance were not aimed at strengthening the nation but rather to stand by an anti-national agenda in their desire for power.

Remembering Narayan

He also talked about the days when Narayan was extremely weak due to illness and came to Patna after being discharged from PGI Chandigarh.

He recalled the time when he and Ravi Shankar Prasad were students at Patna College and Narayan was associated with Patna University. “Ramakant Pandey had invited Narayan to pray at the Kali Temple at Darbhanga House in Patna.” Mr. Nadda said that after completing his prayers, the students gathered there chanted slogans: ‘Loknayak Jayaprakash, move forward, we are with you.’

He added that while the socialist leader was allowed to leave, the entire class was arrested within fifteen minutes of his return to classes, adding that such incidents were common during the State of Emergency. He claimed that university campuses had become headquarters. Mr. Nadda also talked about the ban imposed on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in those years.