Difference between Modi and Indira

Some confessions have a historically significant place in politics. Decades later, when a movement or party is ready to admit the great political mistakes of history that come back to our memories from time to time, it is an eagerness to recognise the truth. Confessions are important as a declaration that they are not moving forward with the political convictions that led to the mistakes made in the past, even if the mistakes are not eliminated.

The significance of Rahul Gandhi’s confession that his grandmother Indira Gandhi’s act of emergency was wrong is just as significant. Rahul Gandhi points out that what happened during the Emergency from 1975 to 1977 was the wrong thing to do, especially at a time when authoritarian tendencies were gaining strength. It is also a response to the current regime, which is trying to impose a silent emergency.

We need to recognise the core differences between Indira Gandhi, who declared the first state of emergency in the country, and Narendra Modi, who is experimenting with new ways of silent emergency. When Indira Gandhi regained power after the Emergency, she made no attempt to undermine the constitutional institutions or stop the media. Indira Gandhi did not show any sense of guilt that the brutal majority in the 1980 elections was recognition of the state of emergency. In the last term from 1980 to her assassination in 1984, there were no moves on the part of Indira Gandhi to endanger democracy. At the same time, Modi has been pursuing policies that betray the people and cast a shadow over democracy.

Modi, who was re-elected in the 2019 elections, was not like Indira Gandhi, who did not misunderstand that the landslide victory in the 1980 elections was recognition of the dictatorship of the Emergency. Modi acted as if he had the right to repeat anti-people policies such as the ban on notes in the first term, when he got through his second term in power. Modi declarations that he was ready for any dictatorial move such as imprisoning the people of Kashmir, the Citizenship Amendment Act and the Agrarian Law without taking the people of the country into confidence.

Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister who took a very healthy step in the economy of the country through measures, including the nationalisation of banks. The nationalisation of banks has changed the status of bank lending as an exclusive right of the elite. At the same time, Modi is constantly harassing the people by banning banknotes and raising fuel prices. History can only be properly recorded when this gap between Modi and Indira is recognised.