Indira Gandhi destroyed freedom by imposing Emergency: Piyush Goyal

Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday said India's first prime minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru called for freedom, but his daughter Indira Gandhi destroyed the same by imposing Emergency 41 years back.

"Once Nehru ji said, 'At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom'. But 26 years later, the freedom and life was destroyed when Emergency was declared in India by his daughter," Goyal said while addressing a gathering here.

"If ever our democracy is under threat people won't bare it, I believe we all will fight for it," he added.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recalled the days of 1975 Emergency, calling it the "darkest hour" in India's history.

"Very often, Mann Ki Baat is criticised, but this is possible because we are a democracy," Prime Minister Modi said while addressing the nation in the 21st edition of his 'Mann Ki Baat' programme.

"Today we are proud of our democracy. But June 25, 1975, was a black night for Indian democracy when Emergency was declared, rights of citizens were killed, and the country was turned into a jail," he said.

The BJP has been criticising Congress on the Emergency. 49 central ministers are today campaigning against Emergency across the nation.