Kin suffered during Emergency, dad faced 40 yrs of ridicule: CM

Margao: Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday revealed that his family was among the many in Goa who suffered during the Emergency. He recounted how his father contested the Pale assembly constituency as a Janata Party candidate in the elections held just after the Emergency was lifted, only to be a subject of calumny and ridicule for years.“I am the second generation of Janata Party,” Sawant told the gathering at a function held at G R Kare College of Law, Margao, to observe Samvidhan Hatya Diwas 2025, the day the Emergency was imposed in India.“In the 1978 assembly elections that immediately followed the Emergency, Janata Party contested four seats in Goa — Margao, Panaji, Vasco, and Pale. Pale was contested by my father, and he polled 400 votes. For the next 40 years, that turned out to be a headache for him.

He was mocked and branded as ‘that Janata Party fellow’. That stopped only after I became an MLA.”Sawant said his father participated in the fight against the Emergency led by the Janata Party, which later asked him to contest the polls as its candidate. “Many families have suffered like this in Goa. Those who were imprisoned suffered, and those outside also suffered,” he said.Speaking further, Sawant said that while then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi suspended the Constitution of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave “due importance to the Constitution and promoted citizen-friendly governance.

Over the last 11 years that Modi has been in office, he empowered constitutional bodies — the Election Commission, Lokpal, and Lokayukta,” Sawant said.The chief minister further said that Article 370 of the Constitution was revoked to protect the unity and integrity of the nation. “Maintaining the nation’s integrity was our prime duty. As we observe the Samvidhan Hatya Diwas, it is important for the younger generation to understand the manner in which the Constitution was murdered.

Truth shouldn’t be allowed to be suppressed. Let us all pledge that we will never allow the Constitution to be killed,” Sawant said.

He took a jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying, “Just by roaming around holding its copy, one cannot protect the Constitution.”Congress-turned-BJP MLA Digambar Kamat, said, “The Emergency was imposed to protect and save just one person, Indira Gandhi. Instead of obeying the high court orders and giving up her seat and facing a by-election, she preferred to imprison lakhs of people in the country and ruled as a dictator. And today, her son goes to villages with a copy of the Constitution, saying the Constitution is in danger.”