'Congress is busy pretending to save the Constitution': Union Minister Kiren Rijiju

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju posted his criticism on Congress, sharing on social media platform X, where he criticized the Congress party's stance on the Emergency imposed in 1975. Rijiju posted, “Now Congress is busy pretending to save the Constitution,” and further sarcastically added, “Congress Party says that the act of suspending the Constitution is not unconstitutional!!” His comments were accompanied by a picture of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and his remark on the Emergency.

The comments came after Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, in an interview with NDTV, stated that the Emergency, imposed on June 25, 1975, by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was “undemocratic but not unconstitutional.” Tharoor explained, “I am a critic of the Emergency, but the very fact is that it may have been undemocratic but it was not unconstitutional. A provision of the Constitution permitted the imposition of an internal emergency. That provision has since been removed.”

The debate came after President Droupadi Murmu's address to a joint sitting of Parliament, where she spoke about the Emergency. Tharoor responded to her remarks by saying, “For the President to call the Emergency an ‘attack on the Constitution’ is actually inaccurate in legal terms.” 

Tharoor clarified his stance, stating, “I am not supporting the move, and I am not saying that this is something to be proud of. I think arresting opposition politicians, censoring the press, and many steps taken during that period were undemocratic, but, sadly, not unconstitutional.”

The debate over the Emergency continues to evoke strong reactions from political leaders.