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Updated June 25th, 2019 at 13:31 IST

Country went through 'Super Emergency' in last 5 years: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee attacks Modi govt

Taking aim at the BJP-led central government, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday asserted that the country went through a period of 'Super Emergency' in the last five years - Narendra Modi's first tenure as Prime Minister.

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Taking aim at the BJP-led central government, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday asserted that the country went through a period of 'Super Emergency' in the last five years - Narendra Modi's first tenure as Prime Minister.

READ | 'Mamata, TMC Are Not Able To Accept Political Defeat, Unleashed A Reign Of Political Terror,' Says BJP's Chandra Kumar Bose On Violence In Bengal

"Today is the anniversary of the #Emergency declared in 1975. For the last five years, the country went through a 'Super Emergency'. We must learn our lessons from history and fight to safeguard the democratic institutions in the country," Banerjee tweeted on the occasion of the 44th anniversary of the 1975 Emergency.

Banerjee, who has been at loggerheads with BJP, did not participate in the recent all-party meetings convened by Prime Minister Modi. She also skipped the swearing-in ceremony of the new government last month and did not attend the June 15 NITI Aayog meeting.

READ | NO To EVMs, YES To Paper Ballots: Trinamool MPs Stage Protest Outside The Parliament

On the other hand, Modi said that the country saluted those who "fiercely and fearlessly" resisted the Emergency period.

"India salutes all those greats who fiercely and fearlessly resisted the Emergency. India's democratic ethos successfully prevailed over an authoritarian mindset," he tweeted.

June 25 marks the day when then prime minister Indira Gandhi had declared a state of Emergency in the country for a 21-month period from 1975 to 1977.

Officially issued by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed under Article 352 of the Constitution due of the prevailing "internal disturbance", the Emergency was in effect from June 25, 1975, until its withdrawal on March 21, 1977.

READ | BJP Pre-programmed EVMs During Lok Sabha Polls: Mamata Banerjee

The order vested upon the Prime Minister the authority to rule by decree, allowing elections to be suspended and civil liberties to be curbed. The Emergency is considered to be one of the most controversial periods of independent India's history.

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Published June 25th, 2019 at 11:26 IST

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