'Emergency Was A Mistake, Grandmother Indira Gandhi Said As Much': Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday termed the decision of Emergency imposed by his grandmother "wrong" but said that the party "never attempted to capture the constitutional framework" of India.

Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi has made all the heads turn with his remarks over the national Emergency imposed by former prime minister Indira Gandhi. The Congress leader has said that the imposition of Emergency was a "mistake".

While speaking to Kaushik Basu, professor in the Cornell University in the US and India's former chief economic advisor, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday termed the decision of Emergency imposed by his grandmother "wrong" but said that the party "never attempted to capture the constitutional framework" of India.

Launching a fresh attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), Rahul said that what is happening in India currently is "fundamentally different" from the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi.

"I think that was a mistake. Absolutely, that was a mistake. And my grandmother (Indira Gandhi) said as much," news agency PTI quoted Rahul Gandhi.

When asked about his views on Indira Gandhi announcing elections post Emergency and Pranab Mukherjee telling Basu later that she did so as she thought she might lose and wanted to put that to test, the former Congress chief said that there is a fundamental difference in both the situations.

"The Congress party at no point attempted to capture India's institutional framework and frankly, the Congress party does not even have that capability. Our design does not allow us that and even if we want, we cannot do it," the Congressman reportedly said.

Later during the conversation, Gandhi was asked about his father Rajiv Gandhi's death at which, the politician said that the information about his murder was given on the phone.

"I said 'Okay that's it!' It was very painful but it increased my understanding of violence and other things. It was heartbreaking to see the death of Prabhakaran, the father's killer. Thought it would be someone's father too.” Gandhi said he saw his father's death coming as he was fighting many forces at the time.