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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley thinks a repeat of the Emergency was not possible in India because of the strength of its media, police and bureaucracy. His comments are in sharp contrast to the fears expressed by senior BJP leader LK Advani last week.
Advani had said that "forces that can crush democracy are stronger" now and that Emergency-like situation could emerge again.
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The Opposition parties had interpreted his comments to be a criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But Jaitley, who is currently on a visit to the United States, told news agency PTI in an interview that it wasn't possible for anybody to convert a democratic India into a "dictatorship" today.
"Today, the media and the polity are strong and so are the global institutions. The world would not accept the world's largest democracy becoming dictatorial today," Jaitley said.
