No Right to Pose as Saviours of Constitution: Indian Minister Lalan Singh Slams Congress

Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, also known as Lalan Singh, launched a blistering attack on the Congress Party on the 50th anniversary of the Emergency. He accused it of dismantling India’s democratic institutions and later masquerading as protectors of constitutional values.

Image Source: Munger MP on X

In a sharply worded rebuke at the Congress party, Singh called June 25, 1975 — the day Emergency was imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi — a “dark chapter” in India’s post-independence history. 

“The Emergency revoked citizens’ fundamental rights, muzzled the press, restricted the judiciary, and brought the entire administrative machinery under Congress control,” he said in a post on social media that was originally written in Hindi.

Without naming names, Singh took direct aim at opposition figures who today champion constitutionalism. 

“These days, carrying the Constitution has become fashionable for some. But those who trampled over it in 1975 now shy away from even mentioning those shameful years,” he said.

Singh pointed to the Allahabad High Court's 1975 judgment that declared Indira Gandhi’s election void. 

“That decision led to the suspension of democracy, mass arrests, and a complete breakdown of institutional independence,” he said.

The minister, who heads the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying and Panchayati Raj, noted that not only opposition leaders but even internal critics within Congress — including prominent “young Turks” — were imprisoned. 

“Even dissent within the ruling party was crushed,” he remarked.

He questioned the Congress Party’s moral right to speak on democratic values today. 

“Those who demolished the constitutional framework 50 years ago cannot pretend to be its guardians now.”

The statement adds to a chorus of criticism from BJP and allied leaders as the NDA marked the 50th anniversary of the Emergency as Samvidhan Hatya Diwas. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and others have framed the 19-month period as the most serious peacetime assault on India’s democratic institutions.

At the same time, the Congress pushed back with sharp counter-allegations. 

Party general secretary Jairam Ramesh called the commemorations hypocritical. He accused the Modi government of leading an “Undeclared Emergency” today. 

He pointed to what he called attacks on civil liberties, suppression of dissent, and abuse of power through state institutions.

Singh’s remarks served to reinforce the BJP’s narrative that the Emergency remains a cautionary tale about authoritarianism.