New Delhi: In a surprising move, BJP veteran LK Advani was not invited to an RSS-backed event where it honoured those who went to jail during the Emergency in 1975.
BJP president Amit Shah and other party leaders were invited for the function held at Delhi's Mavalankar Hall.
Advani had spent 19 months in jail during Emergency.
The move comes days after Advani had claimed that the 'forces that crush democracy were stronger at present' and said he could not rule out another Emergency.
BJP patriarch's statement that "forces that can crush democracy are stronger" had created a buzz in political circles leading to speculation that it was a barb aimed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi but RSS dismissed it while Congress and other BJP rivals shared his concern.
"At the present point of time, the forces that can crush democracy, notwithstanding the constitutional and legal safeguards, are stronger," Advani told in an interview to a national daily.
In the years since the Emergency in 1975-77, he said, "I don't think anything has been done that gives the assurance that civil liberties will not be suspended or destroyed again. Not at all."