PM Modi calls on former VP M Venkaiah Naidu in Delhi

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called on former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu at his residence in the National Capital.

"Prime Minister Shri Narendra Bhai Modi Ji called on me at my residence No. Thyagaraja Marg, in New Delhi," Former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said in a post on X. "I conveyed my heartiest congratulations to Shri Narendra Bhai Modi Ji on being sworn in for his third term as Prime Minister of India. In our interaction, we exchanged our views on matters of national interest. I am certain that Bharat will scale new heights of glory under his leadership in the years to come," the post added.

Earlier, Prime Minister Modi in sharp criticism of the Congress said that the dark days of the Emergency are a reminder of how the Congress Party trampled over the Constitution of India. Taking to X, PM Modi posted, "Today is a day to pay homage to all those great men and women who resisted the emergency. The Dark Days of Emergency remind us of how the Congress Party subverted basic freedoms and trampled over the Constitution of India, which every Indian respects greatly."

He further said that just to cling on to power, the then Congress government disregarded every democratic principle. "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 Congress was tortured and harassed. Socially regressive policies were unleashed to target the weakest sections," PM Modi wrote.

Naidu said on Tuesday that the Emergency of 1975 had tainted the country's democracy and there should be a lesson in textbooks for students to be made aware of how it came to be imposed in the country. Speaking on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the imposition of the Emergency, Naidu said, "The Emergency has put a taint on the country's democracy. There should be a lesson in the textbooks for all the students about what was and how it was imposed. Students should know that an emergency was imposed and how lakhs of people were arrested."

The Emergency, which is considered to be one of the most controversial periods of independent India's history, was imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from June 25, 1975, to 1977. There were political arrests, mass forced sterilisation and beautification drives, among others during the period. All key opposition leaders at the time, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, and Jay Prakash Narayanan, among others, were either jailed or placed under detention.

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