Rajnath Singh recalls horrors of Emergency when jailed: 'Wasn’t given parole to see ailing mother'

Hitting out at the opposition over its accusations of "undeclared emergency" under the BJP-led government, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has recalled the arrests during the Emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi government, stating that he was jailed for eighteen months, was not even granted parole to visit his ailing mother and could not attend her last rites. In an interview with ANI, Rajnath rejected opposition accusations and said, "those who imposed dictatorship through Emergency, they accuse us of being dictatorial". Rajnath Singh, who is a former BJP chief and was Union Home Minister from 2014 to 2019, said he was made convenor for Mirzapur-Sonbhadra during the JP Movement against Emergency which was imposed in June 1975 and continued till March 1977.