If We Ignore Emergency Period, Parliament Has Done Well: Jagdeep Dhankhar

Addressing new MPs of the Rajya Sabha at an orientation programme, Jagdeep Dhankhar said, "There has been only one painful, heart wrenching dark period and that was when Emergency was declared."

Describing Emergency as a "painful, dark" period, Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday said if that period is ignored, the Parliament has done well.

Addressing new MPs of the Rajya Sabha at an orientation programme here, Jagdeep Dhankhar said, "There has been only one painful, heart wrenching dark period and that was when Emergency was declared." During the period, the Constitution was reduced to just a paper, he said.

"It was shredded and leaders were jailed. MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act) became a draconian word. One of the senior politicians of the country, Lalu Prasad Yadav, was so moved and touched by the atrocities of the Emergency that he named his child Misa," he said.