50 Years Of Emergency: Cong Leaders Should Repent Every Year, Says Scindia

Gwalior: Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said the Congress leaders should "repent" on June 25 every year, as he recalled the imposition of Emergency under the party's rule on this day 50 years ago.

Taking a veiled dig at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Scindia on Tuesday said nothing can be achieved by just "roaming around" with a copy of the Constitution.

He also accused the Congress of playing politics over Babasaheb Ambedkar, a day after the party leaders staged a protest seeking the installation of the statue of the Constitution's chief architect on the premises of the Madhya Pradesh High Court's Gwalior bench.

The minister said the Grand Old Party had defeated Ambedkar in elections by fielding a candidate against him.

"The political party which trampled Babasaheb's Constitution through a dark chapter on June 25, 1975 (when Emergency was imposed) is now talking about the Constitution. Nothing can be achieved by just roaming around with the (copy of) Constitution in hand. The Constitution has to be kept alive in the soul," Scindia told reporters.

The BJP MP further said the Congress and its leaders should repent on June 25 every year.

"The party which fielded a candidate against Ambedkar and defeated him in elections, the party whose government removed Babasaheb from the council of ministers, is now glorifying him. This is akin to a thief scolding a police officer," he added.

The Congress has announced to hold a fast on Wednesday under 'Samvidhan Satyagraha', demanding the installation of Ambedkar's statue in the HC's Gwalior bench complex.

Madhya Pradesh cabinet minister Vishwas Sarang dismissed the proposed satyagraha protest as a "deception and a bid for vote bank politics".

He alleged that (India's first prime minister) Jawaharlal Nehru and the Congress insulted Ambedkar when he was alive and denied him entry into the Lok Sabha.

"The Congress tore apart the Constitution by imposing Emergency, whereas the BJP is working with commitment to protect the Constitution and democracy," he told reporters in Bhopal. 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)

 

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