In 2024, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in India has decided to go big on an issue that made a national impact back in 1975. Yes, you read that right.
The government has announced that every year, June 25 will be commemorated as “Samvidhan hatya Diwas” (“Murder of constitution day”) “to pay tribute to all those who suffered and fought against the gross abuse of power during the period of Emergency and to recommit the people of India to not support in any manner such gross abuse of power, in future.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the day will remain a homage to how the Congress “unleashed a dark phase of Indian history”.
At the same time, the BJP has also decided to hold a series of events in a campaign to mark 75 years of the Constitution which will be end next year on Jan 26, Republic Day. ‘The Indian Express’ reported that the government wants to “create awareness about what the constitution stands for and what steps the government has taken to strengthen it”.
So why is the BJP suddenly going so big on the constitution of India? Simply because the opposition’s narrative that a majority for the BJP would lead them to make drastic changes to the constitution, cost the ruling party a number of seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
The opposition, lead by the Congress, was able to succeed in the messaging that the BJP wanted a huge majority of 400 plus to enact changes such as doing away with reservations for backward castes.
Mid way through the campaign, we saw the Prime Minister and other senior BJP leaders switch gears to deny this and insist no sinister plans were in the offing. But it did not work. Several BJP leaders had publicly stated before the elections that the party wanted a full majority to change the constitution. They have only themselves to blame.
"Headline grabbing exercise"
The BJP’s move to focus on the constitution and Indira Gandhi’s Emergency has however given the opposition another issue to beat the government on. At a time when lack of jobs and exam paper leaks have affected millions of young people, should the government really be focusing on something that happened 50 years ago?
The Congress has accused the Prime Minister of “another headline grabbing exercise”, alleging that the BJP government has trampled on the constitution and peoples rights for the last 10 years.
Now, with crucial state elections expected this October, the issue has acquired a renewed focus for the ruling party, which is seeking to do damage control. The party is facing a tough battle from the opposition in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Haryana.
Jammu and Kashmir will also likely see assembly polls where again the BJP is not in a great position. The fact that the BJP did not secure a majority on its own in the general election has been a stinging blow to the party which was initially making grand claims of crossing the 400 mark.
Never again
Winning these assembly polls is critical for the BJP to turn the narrative around and cement their dominance in the political space again.
This is at a time when the opposition has been more aggressive and upbeat. In last week’s assembly by-elections in several states, the opposition won 10 out of 13 seats, the NDA only 2, with an independent bagging one seat.
There is no doubt that all Indians must learn from the Emergency and the way our fundamental rights were suspended. It was a dark chapter in our democracy and one for which the Congress later paid a heavy price in the defeat of Indira Gandhi.
But if we really have to learn from history, then we must ensure the values enshrined in our constitution are fiercely protected. So that no government can ever impose an Emergency again — declared or undeclared.
