Yogi Adityanath: Adding 'secular', 'socialist' to constitution during emergency was a blow to India
Lucknow: Marking the 50th anniversary of the 1975 Emergency, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday termed the period as a “brutal assault on the soul of India” and demanded a public apology from the Congress for what he described as the silencing of Dalits, marginalised communities, and democracy itself.
Speaking at the symposium “The Dark Chapter of Indian Democracy” held at Lok Bhavan, Adityanath took strong exception to the insertion of the words "secular" and "socialist" into the Preamble during the Emergency, calling it unconstitutional and ideologically imposed.
“The Congress didn’t just impose censorship and jail over a lakh pro-democracy activists — it dismantled the very Constitution Ambedkar gave his life for,” he said. He accused the Congress of barring Ambedkar from Parliament in 1952 and blamed it for other “democratic betrayals” such as the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the 2013 ordinance controversy involving Rahul Gandhi.
Adityanath also targeted opposition parties like the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), accusing them of betraying their anti-Congress legacy for short-term political gain. “These dynastic parties once resisted Congress's authoritarianism. Today, they kneel before it,” he remarked.
The Chief Minister announced a scheme to provide cashless medical facilities to those jailed during the Emergency and their families. At the event, 26 such “democracy warriors” were honoured with shawls and mementos.
An exhibition titled “The Tragedy of the Emergency” was also inaugurated, featuring newspaper clippings and visuals from the era, highlighting state excesses and citizen resistance.
Finance Minister Suresh Khanna and Legislative Council Chairperson Kunwar Manvendra Singh also addressed the gathering, calling the Emergency “a time when the entire nation was turned into a prison to protect one Prime Minister’s chair.”
Adityanath concluded with a warning that remnants of the Emergency mindset still linger, urging vigilance to protect democratic values.