Calling Emergency "The Darkest Period" in India's history, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is observing black day to mark the 43th anniversary of the Emergency that was imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The BJP has upped the ante against Congress in the guise of protest against Emergency and are calling the Emergency as "the murder of democracy." The Emergency row also saw the BJP and Congress engage in a war of words on Twitter.  Read here to know all about the Emergency imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and which was indeed a challenge to the democratic values of India.

There are a number of events, programmes, speeches and of course, the 'Black Day' which is being observed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its leaders. Here is all that has been said (and done) today by the BJP leaders in context to the Emergency:

"We will include the whole story of Emergency in the curriculum. Children should know the reality of that time. That is why the Emergency period is considered to be the second freedom struggle," said HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar:

"Then Congress President Devakanta Barua had coined the slogan 'Indira tere naam ki jai, tere kaam ki jai, tere subha ki jai, tere shaam ki jai'. Humne is slogan ki Bihar mein ghoom-ghoom ke bahot pitayi ki thi: Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister on Emergency," says Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad:

"After the resounding pro-democracy verdict of the people of our country, I am confident that no sensible government would dare to repeat what was done during the fateful night of June 25, 1975(Emergency)" said Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President of India

"Emergency, which is darkest period of Indian democracy, should be a part of curriculum so that present generations get to know what was Emergency. How it was imposed? Why it was imposed? We have to educate the people on it" added the Vice President:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in Mumbai, also attacked the Congress and the Gandhi family over Emergency. Here is what the Prime Minister said today in his speech in Mumbai:

The BJP is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the excesses of the Indira Gandhi government which resulted in imposition of Emergency that threatened the very existence does not go unnoticed. The Emergency is also a very personal matter for the BJP leaders as many of the current crop of ministers and BJP leaders had participated in the protests against Emergency as student leaders or youth politics members. With the 2019 General Elections just a year away, such protests and political activism will be witnessed in large numbers by the masses.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 26, 2018 02:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).