Emergency in 1975 was a mistake, but what about the continuing undeclared emergency today, asks Singhvi

Abhishek Manu Singhvi criticizes current government, warns of "undeclared emergency" in India, calls for strengthening democracy.

Conceding that the Emergency declared in 1975 was a “mistake”, senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said on Monday (December 16, 2024) that it lasted for only 18 months, but today, the country is under “undeclared emergency” with no time limit. 

He was speaking during a debate on the 75 years of Indian Constitution in the Rajya Sabha. Terming the 1975 Emergency declared by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi a “constitutional distortion”, he said, “It was a distortion, which the Constitution also supported. There were faults, but it ended. What is the time limit for this undeclared emergency that is there right now? What is the Constitution safeguard to end it? There is nothing, zero,” Mr. Singhvi said. 

Launching a scathing attack on the Union government, he stated that an environment of fear prevailed in the country. “We are witnessing an era where institutions are being incapacitated, dissent demonised and truth throttled. The custodians of democracy have become its conspirators, the protectors of liberty are now its predators,” Mr. Singhvi added. 

He said that everyday, the ruling party demonised the country’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, but the trio – Gandhi-Nehru-Patel – must have done something right for the democracy to continue strong, he said. 

He noted that the present government was working against the tenets of secularism and federalism. He also attacked certain Governors, and said they worked against the principle of cooperative federalism. “...the elected government is entitled to make mistakes... the Governor is not a super CM... today we have super CMs,” he said.

Countering the Opposition, MPs from the NDA allies – the JD(U), the NCP led by Ajit Pawar and the Shiv Sena – expressed their total support for the government. JD(U) MP Sanjay K. Jha said those who were speaking about caste census today, were silent at an INDIA bloc meeting in Mumbai, when the JD(U) – then part of the bloc – wanted caste census to be included in the joint resolution. “The Trinamool Congress had objected to our proposal and the Congress remained silent,” he said. 

Milind Deora of the Shiv Sena said political parties should rise above petty politics and focus on further strengthening the Constitution and democracy for the coming generations. Attacking the Opposition, he said that if political parties were unable to bring in democracy within themselves, “how can they strengthen democracy and the Constitution?” Parties vociferously spoke about market monopolies, but could not counter monopolies inside their own parties, he said “We should bring democracy to our political parties... I want to say proudly that my leader Eknath Shinde restored democracy in the Shiv Sena. He ended feudalism and restored democracy,” Mr. Deora said.