Amid Strong reaction from his one-time socialist colleagues, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday denied that he had ever supported the Emergency imposed in the country in 1975 by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, saying media had distorted his remark a day earlier.
"I have not approved of Emergency. I have said Emergency should not be used to crush democracy. It may be used only to tackle indiscipline," he told reporters.
Lalu said he had never told the press con ference in Varanasi on Wednesday that imposition of emergency was a right decision and he was a product of the Emergency.
The Railway Minister said in fact he had participated in the Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan-led revolution in 1975 and the students' agitation against the Emergency, undergoing several hardships.
Reacting to Yadav's justification of the Emergency by describing it as a 'festival of discipline,' the JD(U) alleged that it was nothing but a 'gimmick' by him to appease Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said Yadav was "making a mockery of himself."
