LK Advani not invited to RSS-backed event honouring those jailed during Emergency

The BJP on Thursday did not invite patriarch LK Advani to an RSS-backed event where it honoured those who went to jail during the Indira Gandhi-imposed Emergency in 1975. The move comes days after Advani had claimed that the 'forces that crush democracy were stronger at present' and said he could not rule out another Emergency.

BJP president Amit Shah and other party leaders were invited for the function held at Delhi's Mavalankar Hall, but not Advani.

The 87-year-old member of the BJP's Margdarshak Mandal was a glaring absence at the event where BJP chief Amit Shah hailed the BJP's resistance of the Emergency 40 years ago. Advani was one of the prominent opposition leaders jailed by the Congress government then.

"Emergency is not brought in by an ordnance or compulsion of taking to the ordinance route. Emergency is because of an authoritarian mindest and unwillingness to listen to anyone," Shah said at the event.

Last week, in an interview to the Indian Express, Advani had said that the forces that can crush democracy were stronger at present and a repeat of an Emergency-like situation cannot be ruled out. The remark which was seemingly directed at the Modi government, created a controversy, following which Advani clarified his remarks.

"The Emergency remarks were directed at Congress. The party has not expressed any regret over it. I want the senior Congress leadership to apologise for 1975," Advani told India Today in what was being seen as his damage control exercise.

But this is not the first time Advani has been snubbed. In April, Advani's name was missing from the list of BJP leaders who delivered the closing remarks at the party's two-day national executive meeting held in Bengaluru. It was the first such meeting after the BJP came to power at the Centre in May 2014.

Advani is also not the only party leader to be disgruntled with the BJP. Former union minister in the Vajpayee government, Yashwant Sinha on Wednesday lashed out at the party, saying the current leadership has 'declared' members above 75 years of age to be 'brain dead' after May 26, 2014. Apart from Advani and Sinha, Arun Shourie has also been very critical of the performance of the Modi government in the past year.