Dhawan nixes reports of Sonia's 'reservations' about Emergency

Key Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist says Bengal ex-CM Siddhartha Shankar Ray was its 'architect'

Giving an insider's view of the Emergency, then private secretary to former prime minister Indira Gandhi, R K Dhawan, who is a senior Congress member, has said Sonia Gandhi - now Congress President - and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had no reservations about the imposition of the Emergency.

Dhawan, who is a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of the Congress, categorically rejected reports of Indira Gandhi's eldest son Rajiv Gandhi and his wife Sonia Gandhi as having had reservations about the Emergency.

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Recently BJP veteran L K Advani had demanded that Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice-President Rahul Gandhi should apologise for the Emergency and until they do so, the Gandhi family and Congress cannot be forgiven for the Emergency.

Speaking to Karan Thapar on India Today news channel's programme To The Point, Dhawan alleged that the present BJP minister Maneka Gandhi, wife of the late Sanjay Gandhi, "knew everything Sanjay was doing and was with him at all times and, hence, cannot plead innocence or ignorance".

Attributing former Bengal chief minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray as being the "architect" of the Emergency, Dhawan recalled that the Cabinet took all of 15 minutes to ratify the decision of the Emergency and suggested that it was at the behest of Ray that Indira Gandhi declared the Emergency.

Contrary to reports, Dhawan insisted that the June 25, 1975, imposition of the Emergency was not to protect her from a Allahabad High Court ruling, which had struck down her election victory, but rather to stem the adverse climate created by the then Opposition. Dhawan said as early as January 1975, Ray had written to Indira Gandhi calling for the need for some "drastic action."

Preparation for the "drastic action", Dhawan said, had begun four days prior to January 25 with chief ministers such as Zail Singh, Bansi Lal and others being instructed to prepare lists of Opposition and RSS leaders to be arrested. Lists were also prepared in Delhi so that from January 26 morning itself, arrests were swiftly made.

It was ensured that a majority of the arrests were made under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA), and not under the CrPC, to prevent them from getting bail easily.

Dhawan, who was one of the most trusted aides of Indira Gandhi and has known the family since 1962, disclosed that Indira Gandhi's first reaction - after the adverse high court judgment - was to resign and she had resignation letter also typed out but her Cabinet ministers, including Jagjivan Ram, prevailed upon her to not resign.

Rejecting the notion that the then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed had demurred from signing the proclamation, Dhawan asserted that Ray had already briefed him and Ahmed "readily agreed and he showed no hesitation".

Recalling the Cabinet meeting at 6 am on January 26, which ratified the Emergency, Dhawan said it lasted only 15 minutes with Swaran Singh being the only dissenting voice in the Cabinet meeting.

Suggesting that all Cabinet ministers were agreeable to the Emergency, Dhawan insists that Indira Gandhi was ignorant of the excesses being committed by her son Sanjay Gandhi, whether it be the Turkman Gate demolitions or the sterilisation campaign. Recalling how Sanjay was "pampered" by chief ministers like N D Tewari and Zail Singh, Dhawan said, "Power went to his (Sanjay) head." He confirms that on one such occasion, Sanjay got Inder Kumar Gujral removed from information & broadcasting ministry, unhappy at the manner Doordarshan was covering Indira Gandhi's rallies.

Misled by Intelligence Bureau reports, Dhawan said Indira Gandhi called for the 1977 election believing that she would win up to 340 seats. Contrary to reports that she was dejected after her defeat, Dhawan claims he was the first to tell her about the 1977 defeat while she was at dinner and she said she was relieved and would be able to get time for herself.

Dhawan says that Jagjivan Ram's breaking away came as a surprise to Indira Gandhi and it did make her realise that the campaign would be more difficult but she didn't think she would lose. She only thought the majority would be smaller.