New Delhi: The BJP has hit back at Sonia Gandhi for her comments against the Narendra Modi-led government.
Sonia, in her interview to The Hindu, claimed that the country had suffered considerable damage to its institutions and democratic framework over the past 12 years. Restoring them would require time and sustained efforts from political parties, she said.
“Over the last twelve years great damage has been done to the fabric of our country, our democracy and our institutions. Even after this government goes it will take time to restore our systems back to health, and great effort from political parties. People are now beginning to be restless and recognising the damage. But I am optimistic and I know that the people of India will welcome a return to proper governance,” she told the newspaper.
This was in response to a question on whether politics would return to a contest over policies and programmes if the BJP lost the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
BJP MP Tarun Chugh hit back at Sonia, saying India’s culture and Sanatana traditions had survived centuries of invasions and colonial rule and would continue to endure. Referring to the construction of the Ram temple at Shri Ram Janmabhoomi, he alleged that three generations of the Gandhi family had tried to prevent it.
“This resurgence of Sanatana’s faith, where heritage and development walk hand in hand and grow together in the same cradle is something you simply cannot stomach,” Chugh said, as reported by News18.
Taking a swipe at Sonia’s Italian origins, he said that if she removed her “Italian-made glasses”, she would see an India moving forward under the government’s ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Prayas’ slogan. He cited a growth rate of 7.8% and described India as a rising global power.
The BJP leader further questioned Sonia’s response to the deaths of Indian soldiers, alleging that she had not expressed sympathy over their sacrifices.
The BJP also criticised the Congress leader on Saturday for her remarks on the Emergency imposed by former prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.
In a post on X, Pradeep Bhandari said Sonia Gandhi’s remarks could not change the fact that Indira Gandhi had imposed the Emergency. He also invoked former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s controversial remark following the 1984 anti-Sikh violence.
“Sonia Gandhi is trying to justify emergency! She is trying to project Indira Gandhi as victim, but her PR exercise cannot hide the truth: Indira Gandhi imposed emergency, & Rajiv Gandhi carried forward that legacy by his famous comment – ‘Ek Bada Ped Girta Hai to Dharti Hilti Hai’ justifying 1984 massacre of Sikhs! Nation has not forgiven Gandhi Vadra family, nation will not!” Bhandari wrote.
Sonia discussed the Emergency in an interview with The Hindu’s N Ram, where she refused to hold Sanjay Gandhi solely responsible for the excesses committed during the period. She said several senior colleagues of Indira Gandhi had also exerted pressure on the then prime minister.
Sonia’s remarks come ahead of the worldwide release of her memoir, ‘Belonging: A Journey Of Love’, on November 10.
“It was not only Sanjay, though in the public mind he is often seen as synonymous with the Emergency. There was a lot of pressure from some of her senior colleagues, and I think there were very few people around her like Rajiv who had a different point of view,” she told the newspaper.
Rajiv would pass on complaints and feedback he heard to his mother, she said. Indira Gandhi eventually understood the situation and took steps to address it, she added.
“I think eventually my mother-in-law began to understand the situation through her own wisdom and took actions to remedy it,” Sonia said.
She agreed that democratic rights had been restricted when asked whether the Emergency should be recognised as an anti-democratic and authoritarian chapter.
“It was only after the Emergency that I came to know the true gravity of what had been happening. Yes, democratic rights had been curtailed and there was a suspension of habeas corpus, but it was done constitutionally,” she said.
Describing the circumstances leading up to the Emergency from Indira Gandhi’s perspective, she cited violent protests, government offices and public transport being set on fire, widespread organised unrest and calls for the bureaucracy and armed forces to disobey orders.
Indira Gandhi later publicly expressed regret over the excesses committed during the period, Sonia said. It was Indira Gandhi herself who called the March 1977 election, allowing the issue to be resolved through democratic means, she pointed out.
