THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress lacks the moral integrity to speak about protecting the Constitution, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi said. He was speaking after inaugurating the 50th anniversary observance of the Emergency, organised by the BJP’s Thiruvananthapuram district committee on Sunday.
“Secularism and democracy are not in the blood of the Congress. The party amended the Constitution 50 times during the 21-month-long Emergency. Fundamental rights were violated. An amendment was introduced to overcome the courts as well,” he said.
Joshi said the Congress government committed several heinous crimes during the Emergency. Around 2.29 lakh people were put in prisons, which had the carrying capacity of 1.83 lakh. Around 1.71 crore people were forcefully sterilised and 1,771 died due to post-surgical infection. Several persons were shot dead. Over 25,000 officers who disobeyed illegal orders from the government were dismissed from service.
BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar and senior leader V Muraleedharan spoke. Muraleedharan condemned the Kerala government’s attempts to silence the governor on the occasion.