'Those who brought Dark Days of Emergency' cannot 'profess love for our Constitution': PM Modi

New Delhi: A day after the Congress-led opposition's INDIA bloc raised slogans against the BJP for being the prime threat to the nation's Constitution, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday slammed back with "those who imposed the Emergency have no right to profess their love for our Constitution", as he reminded people of the Emergency imposed 49 years ago.

Recalling the Emergency as "Dark Days" saying, "the day will remind us of how the Congress Party subverted basic freedoms and trampled over the Constitution of India which every Indian respects greatly", Modi in a series of posts on social media X, hit out at the Congress for Emergency imposed in 1975 by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

The prime minister said that the mindset which led to the imposition of that Emergency is “very much still alive among the same Party”.

He said: "Today is a day to pay homage to all those great men and women who resisted the Emergency."

The PM's remarks came as the country remembered June 25, 2024, the 49th anniversary of the imposition of Emergency.

Modi said: "Just to cling on to power, the then Congress Government disregarded every democratic principle and made the nation into a jail. Any person who disagreed with the Congress was tortured and harassed. Socially regressive policies were unleashed to target the weakest sections."

Attacking the Congress party indirectly, the Prime Minister said, "Those who imposed the Emergency have no right to profess their love for our Constitution".

"These are the same people who have imposed Article 356 on innumerable occasions, got a Bill to destroy press freedom, destroyed federalism and violated every aspect of the Constitution," he continued.

"The mindset which led to the imposition of the Emergency is very much alive among the same Party which imposed it," the PM said in an obvious attack on the Congress.

"They hide their disdain for the Constitution through their tokenism but the people of India have seen through their antics and that is why they have rejected them time and again.The Emergency was declared on the midnight of June 24-25, 1975, exactly 49 years ago," he added.

Rahul Gandhi on Monday dared the BJP-led NDA with: "No power can touch India's Constitution", as the 18th Lok Sabha came into session.