Jaipur, Nov 11 (IANS) BJP Rajasthan president Madan Rathore said it was inappropriate to hold Sanjay Gandhi solely responsible for the Emergency, alleging that Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi had followed the system established by him during his lifetime.
He termed it contradictory to follow his arrangements then and criticise him posthumously.
Rathore was reacting to the contents of Sonia Gandhi’s memoir. He also spoke on remarks made by Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge and said Kharge’s comments comparing a Hindu festival with Eid reflected a lack of sensitivity towards religious sentiments.
Rathore said Kharge’s remarks about festivals were inappropriate, adding that every festival has its own significance and cultural context within the respective community.
He said it would have been better if Kharge had confined his comments to the relevant context rather than making statements that appeared aimed at appeasing a particular community.
Taking a further swipe at the Congress president, Rathore referred to the atrocities allegedly suffered by Kharge’s family and questioned his remarks in that context. He also criticised Kharge for making what he described as inconsistent and controversial statements.
Commenting on the references to Sanjay Gandhi in Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, Rathore said it was inappropriate to criticise him after his death or hold him solely responsible for the events of the Emergency.
He claimed that while Sanjay Gandhi was alive, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi had functioned according to the system he had established.
It was therefore contradictory, he said, to follow his arrangements during his lifetime and subsequently put him in the dock after his death.
Rathore maintained that the Emergency was a collective decision of the Indira Gandhi family and described it as one of the darkest chapters in India’s democratic history.
He alleged that Indira Gandhi was responsible for undermining democracy, curtailing press freedom and subjecting young people to forced sterilisation.
He also said that people who raised slogans such as “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” were jailed during the period. The BJP leader questioned how the then Prime Minister could absolve herself of responsibility by attributing the decisions to a single individual.
“If it is being claimed that Sanjay Gandhi was indirectly running the government, it raises an even more serious question about Indira Gandhi’s leadership. She was the Prime Minister, yet someone else was allegedly calling the shots,” Rathore said.
He further questioned Sonia Gandhi’s account, arguing that it was inappropriate to criticise Sanjay Gandhi posthumously when the political system associated with him had been followed during his lifetime.
Rathore said Sanjay Gandhi’s reputation and legacy should not be subjected to such criticism after his death.
–IANS
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