Digvijaya Singh Slams Centre Over Year-Long Anti-Emergency Campaign

By A Staff Reporter
Varanasi, July 1 — Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has voiced strong criticism against the central government's decision to mark the 50th anniversary of the Emergency with a year-long campaign led by state administrations. Speaking in Varanasi, Singh said the move reflects a troubling overlap between government functioning and political agendas.

“I have only one objection. Central government officials are writing letters to states and telling them to organise programs against the Emergency for one whole year,” Singh stated. “It has never happened that a central government has made its political agenda the government's agenda. This should not happen.”

His remarks come amid reports that the Union government has directed state-level authorities to commemorate the Emergency as a dark chapter in Indian democracy, with events, seminars, and public awareness drives planned throughout the year.

The Emergency, imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975, remains a deeply polarizing subject in Indian political history. While the BJP and its ideological affiliates highlight it as a period of authoritarian excess, the Congress often frames it within a more complex historical context.