Tharoor’s Emergency remarks draw Congress ire, BJP applause

Four-term Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday again questioned his parent party over the imposition of Emergency, inviting sharp reactions from the Congress and words of support from the BJP.

After Tharoor wrote in an article that Emergency should not be remembered merely as a dark chapter in India’s history, but its lessons must be fully understood, the Congress, without naming him, asked if he was parroting the BJP.

“When a colleague starts repeating BJP lines word for word, you begin to wonder if the bird has become a parrot? Mimicry suits birds, not politics,” Congress MP Manickam Tagore said in a veiled dig at Tharoor.

In an article on the Emergency published in Malayalam daily Deepika on Thursday, Congress Working Committee member Shashi Tharoor acknowledged the excesses committed during the period imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Tharoor wrote that efforts undertaken for discipline and order often turned into acts of cruelty that could not be justified. He noted that the people responded decisively to these excesses by voting the Congress out of power by a large margin.

“Sanjay Gandhi, son of Indira Gandhi, led forced sterilisation campaigns, which became a notorious example of this. In poor rural areas, violence and coercion were used to meet arbitrary targets. In cities like New Delhi, slums were mercilessly demolished… Thousands were rendered homeless. Their welfare was not taken into consideration,” Tharoor wrote.

He said “democracy is not something to be taken lightly”; it is a “precious legacy that must be constantly nurtured and preserved”. “Let it serve as a lasting reminder to people everywhere,” Tharoor added.

Facing criticism from within his party, Tharoor received unexpected support from BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, who said the Congress leadership’s attack on Tharoor reflected the very mindset that led to the Emergency.

Trivedi said Rahul Gandhi’s protest in Bihar against the Election Commission’s ongoing revision of electoral roll underscored Congress’ belief that constitutional bodies’ legitimacy depended on its poll victory or loss.

Tensions between Tharoor and the Congress high command have surfaced repeatedly, especially after his vocal defence of the government during the Operation Sindoor global outreach, often in contrast to Rahul Gandhi’s stance.

India