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PM Modi took aim at the Congress leadership under the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, for imposing restrictions on press freedom
Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the Budget session of Parliament. (PTI photo)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday while speaking in Rajya Sabha targeted the Congress party and referred to some of the film industry’s artists including Kishore Kumar, Dev Anand, and Balraj Sahni, among others.
“During Nehru ji’s tenure as the PM, a workers strike was held in Mumbai. During that strike, the famous poet Majrooh Sultanpuri recited a poet. After this, he was put in jail. Famous actor Balraj Sahni was also jailed only because he participated in a protest demonstration at the time. Hridaynath Mangeshkar Ji, brother of Lata MangeshkarJi, had written a poem on Veer Savarkar and wanted to sing it on Akashvani but was banned from Akashvani for life,” PM Modi said.
“Dev Anand was requested to support the Emergency publicly. However, he clearly refused,” PM Modi said He showed courage, and therefore, all the films of Dev Anand were banned on Doordarshan,” PM Modi added.
Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, “Kishore Kumar refused to sing for Congress. As a result of this, all of Kishore Kumar’s songs were banned in Akashvani. I cannot forget the days of the Emergency”(Video Courtesy: Sansad TV) pic.twitter.com/fGVibDgA2J
— IANS (@ians_india) February 6, 2025
“Expecting ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ from Congress will be a huge mistake. It is beyond their thinking and it also doesn’t suit their roadmap because the whole party is dedicated only to one family. In Congress model, the first thing is Family First”. Their energy was spent on this. Today, attempts are being made to spread caste poison in the society…For many years, OBC MPs from all parties had been demanding constitutional status for the OBC Panel. But their demand was rejected, as it might not have suited their (Congress) politics. But we gave constitutional status to this panel,” he added.
He also took aim at the Congress leadership under the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, for imposing restrictions on press freedom while presenting themselves as champions of democracy.
The Prime Minister also recalled how MPs like George Fernandes were handcuffed and imprisoned during the Emergency. Modi described how the Congress government turned the nation into a jail to maintain the royal family’s power.
(With agency inputs)
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