‘Great Damage Has Been Done To The Country’: Sonia Gandhi’s Blunt Verdict On 12 Years Of BJP Rule

Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has sharply criticised the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing it of causing serious damage to the country's democracy and institutions over the past 12 years.

According to the ANI news agency, Gandhi, in an interview with The Hindu, said the country's democratic fabric had suffered significant damage during the period. She also expressed confidence that people were increasingly recognising the situation and would eventually restore “proper governance”.

“Over the last twelve years, great damage has been done to the fabric of our country, our democracy and our institutions,” Gandhi said. She added that even after the current government leaves office, restoring the country's systems would require considerable time and effort from political parties.

“Even after this government goes, it will take time to restore our systems to health, and great effort from political parties. People are now beginning to be restless and recognising the damage. But I am optimistic, and I know that the people of India will welcome a return to proper governance,” she said.

Speaking about the 1975 Emergency, Gandhi acknowledged that democratic rights were curtailed during the 21-month period, including the suspension of habeas corpus. However, she stressed that the decision was taken constitutionally and that then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi eventually recognised the situation, called elections and publicly expressed regret over the excesses.

“It was only after the Emergency that I came to know the true gravity of what had been happening. Yes, democratic rights had been curtailed, and there was a suspension of habeas corpus, but it was done constitutionally,” she said.

Gandhi also sought to explain the circumstances from Indira Gandhi's perspective, pointing to violent protests, attacks on government offices and public transport, organised unrest and calls for the bureaucracy and armed forces to disobey orders.

“Yet, when I take myself back to that period and try and see it from Mrs Gandhi's (Indira Gandhi) point of view, I see her struggling to cope with the rapidly deteriorating prevailing circumstances: violent protests, government offices and public transport set on fire, widespread organised unrest and even a call for the bureaucracy and armed forces to disobey orders,” she said.

She further highlighted that the Emergency ultimately ended through democratic means, with Indira Gandhi calling for the March 1977 general election and later publicly expressing regret and apologising for the excesses. “Hindsight allows us to put things better in perspective.

Let's not forget that it was Mrs Gandhi herself who came to recognise what was happening and called for the March 1977 election. And you know very well that she herself later publicly expressed regret and apologised for excesses during the Emergency,” Gandhi said.

Ahead of the launch of her memoir Belonging: A Journey of Love, Gandhi also spoke about the personal journey behind the book. She described the memoir as a love story about how she came to love her late husband Rajiv Gandhi's family and India, and how that relationship eventually drew her into public life.

“I had no desire to talk about it for so long. But it is not only a love story between the two of us, but it's also the story of how I grew to love Rajiv's family and the country to which they belonged, and then I too came to belong in it.

And of how this love brought me into public life, when I saw the purpose of all the sacrifices they had made being threatened, and the party was weakening. I felt I had to do something,” she said. The memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, chronicles Gandhi's journey from her childhood in post-war Italy and her romance with Rajiv Gandhi that brought her to India, to the personal losses that shaped her life and her relationship with her adopted country.

Sneha is a Senior Copy Editor at ABP Live English, covering national and global news, politics, and social developments. She approaches every story with clarity, accuracy, and a reader-focused perspective. She holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication from Central University of Jharkhand.