Rahul Gandhi said that opposition leaders are not allowed to speak in the parliament. Their mics are turned off during debate.
New Delhi| Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has termed the Emergency imposed during Indira Gandhi’s rule as a mistake. Rahul said this in a virtual discussion with Professor Kaushik Basu at a program at Cornell University on Wednesday. However, he said this in the context of the current Modi government. Rahul said that Emergency was a mistake, but there is a difference between what happened at that time and what is happening in the country today.
Congress does not take over constitutional framework
Rahul said, “The Congress party never tries to grab the constitutional structure of India. Our party structure does not allow us to do this.”
He said, “Congress has never tried to take advantage of the institutions. The present government is hurting India’s democratic system. The freedom of every institution is under attack. RSS is making inroads everywhere. Independent institutions like the Court, Election Commission are held by people of the same ideology. From the media to the court, everything is being targeted.”
Rahul Gandhi said that opposition leaders are not allowed to speak in the parliament. Their mics are turned off during debate. He also mentioned the office for profit case in Manipur. He said, “Democracy is under full attack. In Manipur, the Governor is helping the BJP, in Puducherry, the Lieutenant Governor did not allow many bills to pass, as she was associated with the RSS. I went to a conference in Egypt, the judge was sitting in a political conference there. This meant that only one institute was working there, something similar is happening in India right now.”
The threat to democracy in India is much deeper than muzzling debate. Muzzling debate is a symptom of it. Modern democracies function because there are independent institutions and that independence is being attacked in India.: Shri @RahulGandhi#DialogueForDemocracyWithRahul pic.twitter.com/0ruDzPbz9w
— Congress (@INCIndia) March 2, 2021
Nobody questions the BJP on internal democracy
Rahul said, “I was the first person who said that democratic elections within the party were very important, but the interesting thing is that these questions are not asked to any other party. No one asks why there is no internal democracy in BJP, BSP and Samajwadi Party, but this question arises from Congress and the reason behind it. We are an ideological party and our ideology is the ideology of the constitution of the country. In such a situation, it is very important for us to remain democratic.”
I was attacked by people from my own party
Rahul Gandhi said, “I was the one who encouraged the elections in youth organization and student organization and for this I was criticized in the media. I have really been crucified for getting this election done. I was attacked by people from my own party.”
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