June 25, the day Emergency was imposed in 1975, officially declared as 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas'

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday announced that June 25, the day the Emergency was imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975, would henceforth be observed as 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas' (Constitution murder day).

The BJP-led central government on Friday officially decided to celebrate June 25 as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’ every year, in order to celebrate the contribution of all those who suffered the inhuman pain caused due to the imposition of ’emergency’ by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975. 

"On June 25, 1975, the then-prime minister Indira Gandhi, showing her dictatorial mindset, strangled the soul of Indian democracy by imposing emergency in the country," Union Home Minister Amit Shah wrote on X.

“The Government of India has decided to celebrate 25 June every year as ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’. This day will remind us of the immense contribution of all those people who suffered the inhuman pain of the Emergency of 1975,” he added. 

Indira Gandhi’s government declared a state of emergency in India on June 25, 1975. Democracy was restored only after nearly two years on March 21, 1977. June 25, 2024, marked 50 years of Emergency.

On June 24, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it a “black spot” in India’s democracy during the first session of the new Lok Sabha.

The development comes as the BJP-led NDA mounted an offensive against the Congress on the 49th anniversary of the imposition of the Emergency. The move is being seen as a counter to the opposition's narrative that the BJP was subverting the Constitution.

In the campaign for the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the Congress told voters PM Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not respect the Indian Constitution and would change it if it got an outright majority for the third straight term, while the BJP strongly rejected the charge.

In the end, the BJP got 240 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats — 32 short of the majority mark. But the NDA, of which the BJP is a part, got a comfortable majority with 293 seats, paving the road for a historic third term for PM Modi. The Congress improved its tally to 99 (from 52 in 2019).