'Congress trampled over our democratic ethos': PM Modi recalls 1975 emergency

New Delhi, June 25: On the occasion of the 46th anniversary of the Emergency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the "dark days" marked by the period "can never be forgotten".

"The #DarkDaysOfEmergency can never be forgotten. The period from 1975 to 1977 witnessed a systematic destruction of institutions, PM Modi tweeted.

"Let us pledge to do everything possible to strengthen India's democratic spirit, and live up to the values enshrined in our Constitution," the prime minister added.

In another tweet, PM Modi said "This is how Congress trampled over our democratic ethos. We remember all those greats who resisted the Emergency and protected Indian democracy."

Home minister Shah tweeted, "Salute to the sacrifice of all the countrymen who fought relentlessly for the protection of the Constitution and democracy of the country while suffering the brutal tortures of the ruthless rule for 21 months."

On June 25, 1975, President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declared a state emergency in India.

The Emergency was imposed by then prime minister Indira Gandhi for a 21-month period from 1975 to 1977, when curbs were imposed on the fundamental rights of people. Gandhi lifted Emergency in 1977 and called for Lok Sabha elections in which the Congress was handed a crushing defeat, its first ever since the country's Independence in 1947, by the combined opposition of Janata Party.

Several opposition leaders, including Jayaprakash Narayan, Morarji Desai, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani, Arun Jaitley, Raj Narain, Vijayaraje Scindia and others were arrested.