Don't vote for parties with no internal democracy: Shah

The BJP President Amit Shah on Thursday appealed to the countrymen to cast their vote only for those parties which have internal democracy.

"Not the ordinance, it is the dictatorial mindset or ideology which leads to Emergency and the root cause of Emergency is not paying heed to other views," Shah said here at a function organised by Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Research foundation on the 40th anniversary of Emergency.

Shah said: "If citizens of this country vote for a person, chances of Emergency can't be ruled out. But if they vote for a party which practices internal democracy, Emergency can never be imposed."

Shah added that there are only two or three parties in the country which have internal democracy and BJP is one of them.

The function was attended by other senior BJP leaders as well. However, veteran leader of the party L.K. Advani, who was in jail for 19 months during the emergency was not invited.

Earlier, on such occasions, Advani was the centre of attraction, as he has been the most vocal critic of Emergency.

Sources told IANS that Advani was not invited due to his recent remark on Emergency.

In an interview to the Indian Express ahead of the 40th anniversary of the Emergency Advani had said that "forces that can crush democracy" (in the country) were stronger and that there were "not enough safeguards in India in 2015" to prevent an Emergency-like situation.