New Delhi, June 26 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said no Indian will ever forget the excesses during the Emergency, when the spirit of the Constitution was violated and ordinary citizens jailed. On the 50th anniversary of the Emergency imposed for 21 months by the then Congress government, the PM reiterated his government's commitment to strengthening the principles enshrined in the Constitution. In a series of posts on X, the PM said, "Today marks fifty years since one of the darkest chapters in India's democratic history, the imposition of the Emergency. The people of India mark this day as Samvidhan Hatya Diwas. On this day, the values enshrined in the Indian Constitution were set aside, fundamental rights were suspended, press freedom was extinguished, and several political leaders, social workers, students, and ordinary citizens were jailed. It was as if the Congress Government in power at that time placed democracy under arrest!" The Union cabinet headed by the PM also passed a resolution to commemorate and honour the "sacrifices of countless individuals who valiantly resisted the Emergency" and its attempt at subversion of the spirit of Indian Constitution. Observing a two-minute silence, the cabinet paid tributes to the exemplary courage and valiant resistance of ordinary citizens who stood up to the Emergency's excesses, whose constitutionally guaranteed democratic rights were taken away and were then subjected to "unimaginable horrors". The BJP-led NDA government observes June 25, the day on which the Emergency was proclaimed, as the 'Samvidhan Hatya Diwas,' as a reminder of how civil liberties, press freedom, and other rights were curbed and the provisions of the Constitution sidestepped. The PM, who was then a full-time volunteer of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological parent of the BJP, was part of the anti-Emergency campaign of opposition leaders, socialists, students, and ordinary students. "No Indian will ever forget the manner in which the spirit of our Constitution was violated, the voice of Parliament muzzled, and attempts were made to control the courts. The 42nd Amendment is a prime example of their shenanigans. The poor, marginalised and downtrodden were particularly targeted, including their dignity insulted," he said. Paying tribute to those who fought for the restoration of democracy and fought against government excesses during the Emergency, the PM said, "We salute every person who stood firm in the fight against the Emergency! These were the people from all over India, from all walks of life, from diverse ideologies who worked closely with each other with one aim: to protect India's democratic fabric and to preserve the ideals for which our freedom fighters devoted their lives. It was their collective struggle that ensured that the then Congress Government had to restore democracy and call for fresh elections, which they badly lost." Hitting back at Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that an undeclared emergency prevailed in the country, and accused the BJP of staging a Samvidhan Hatya Diwas "drama" to hide its governance failure. He said a government which has no tolerance and does not allow fraternity and liberty to prosper has no right to lecture others. Addressing a press conference at the Congress' Indira Bhawan, Kharge slammed the BJP-RSS and said those who "played no role in the independence of the country, in framing the Constitution, and rejected Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution" are raking up the Emergency, 50 years after it was imposed. The same people are now talking of saving the Constitution, he added. "Those (BJP-RSS) people who are talking of Samvidhan bachao are now raking up the Emergency after 50 years. It was something people had forgotten and they are now raking it up," he said. Kharge said the the BJP-RSS had rejected the Constitution and stated that it did not have our cultural aspects such as elements of the Manusmriti. "They (BJP-RSS) did all this and have now been suddenly enlightened."According to the Congress chief, the BJP is rattled with the Congress' Samvidhan Bachao Yatra and are therefore raking up the Emergency of 50 years ago. The government marks Emergency anniversary as Samvidhan Hatyas Diwas, or Constitution Murder Day....