New Delhi: Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has described the imposition of the Emergency in 1975 as a mistake, saying she believes her mother-in-law and former prime minister Indira Gandhi eventually came to feel the same.
In an interview with British newspaper The Guardian ahead of the release of her memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, Sonia said she believed Indira was a democrat at heart and was never comfortable with the course taken during the Emergency.
She also said that keeping Sanjay Gandhi, Indira’s younger son, in check could have prevented much of the damage that followed the imposition of the Emergency.
In a separate interview with The Hindu, Sonia said pressure from senior Congress leaders had also influenced Indira’s decision. She said there were very few people around the former prime minister, including her husband Rajiv Gandhi, who held a different view.
Sonia said she came to understand the full extent of what had happened during the Emergency only after it ended. She acknowledged that democratic rights had been curtailed and habeas corpus suspended, while describing the measures as having been imposed constitutionally.
She also said Indira later recognised the excesses committed during the period and took steps to address them.
The Emergency was imposed on June 25, 1975, and lasted until March 21, 1977. During this period, civil liberties were suspended, opposition leaders were detained, and restrictions were imposed on the press.
Sonia’s remarks come ahead of the November 10 release of her memoir, which revisits her early life in Italy and her personal and political journey after marrying Rajiv Gandhi.
With input from media reports.