Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s close aide RK Dhawan has dismissed claims by former Intelligence Bureau chief TV Rajeswar that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) had supported her on imposing Emergency in 1975.
“How could RSS say that they could support Indira Gandhi for the Emergency or support her during the post-Emergency elections leaving behind the Jan SanghIJ There was no such mention of RSS supporting Gandhi,” Dhawan said.
In an interview to a TV channel, Dhawan dismissed Rajeswar’s claim made in his book The Crucial Years, saying it was a mere “self-glorification” and for sensationalisation.
Rajeswar has claimed in his book that the RSS had supported several measures taken during the Emergency and then chief of the organisation Balasaheb Deoras had tried to contact Indira. Responding to this, Dhawan wondered why Rajeswar was making such clai-ms which didn’t happen at all.
He also dismissed several other charges made in the book against Indira, including allegations that she had told the IB to snoop on Congressmen or that she was aware of the excesses committed during Emergency. On contrary, Dhawan said that Indira was visibly relieved after losing the 1977 General Elections as she wanted to take a break from governance and spend time with her family.
Rajeswar, who served as the Governor of UP and Sikkim after his retirement, had said, “Not only they (RSS) were supportive of this, they wanted to establish contact with Sanjay Gandhi too.”