Sonia Gandhi revisits Emergency, defends Indira’s role
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New Delhi: Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has said that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi later publicly expressed regret and apologised for the excesses committed during the Emergency. She also rejected the idea that Sanjay Gandhi alone should be held responsible for the period.
In an interview with The Hindu’s N. Ram, published ahead of the release of her memoir Belonging: A Journey of Love on November 10, Sonia Gandhi said Sanjay Gandhi was often seen as synonymous with the Emergency, but the situation was more complex.
According to Sonia Gandhi, Indira Gandhi faced considerable pressure from some senior colleagues during the Emergency. She said very few people close to the then Prime Minister, including her son Rajiv Gandhi, held a different view.
She added that Rajiv Gandhi would pass on complaints and feedback he heard from people to his mother. Sonia Gandhi said Indira Gandhi eventually understood the situation through her own judgement and took steps to address it.
Asked whether the Emergency should be seen as an anti-democratic and authoritarian chapter in Indian history, Sonia Gandhi acknowledged that democratic rights were curtailed and habeas corpus was suspended. However, she said the measures were introduced “constitutionally”.
She said Indira Gandhi was dealing with rapidly deteriorating conditions at the time, including violent protests, attacks on government offices and public transport, organised unrest, and calls for the bureaucracy and armed forces to disobey orders.
Sonia Gandhi said hindsight allowed the events to be viewed in better perspective. She pointed out that Indira Gandhi herself recognised what was happening, called elections in March 1977, and later publicly expressed regret and apologised for the Emergency excesses.
Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency on June 25, 1975. The 21-month period saw restrictions on civil liberties and the press, suspension of constitutional safeguards, and an expansion of executive power.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi praised his mother and shared the interview on X. “Sixty years in public life, and still the same person. Proud of you, Ma,” he wrote.
He also shared a quote from Sonia Gandhi: “The values that I learnt growing up survive. I have tried my best to be true to them: Loyalty to family and friends, sincerity and feeling for others, the idea of being dutiful and responsible. I think I can say that in these I am the same person Rajiv met sixty years ago.”
(Inputs from IANS)