NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge Wednesday said the country is under “undeclared emergency” for the last 11 years, and PM Narendra Modi is orchestrating a “drama” about democracy and the Constitution, as well as raking up Emergency 50 years later to divert attention from his “governance failures and capture of institutions”.There is no freedom of expression in the country, and Modi govt lacks tolerance and belief in liberty and fraternity, and opposition netas, journalists, students are being jailed for speaking the truth, he alleged at a press conference.Kharge mocked that BJP’s ideological patron RSS did not support the Constitution framed by B R Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru and other Congress members, and burnt its copy at the Ramlila Maidan because it “lacked the elements of tradition and culture like Manusmriti”. He added that effigies of Ambedkar too were burnt in protest.

“People who had no role in the freedom struggle and the making of the Constitution have now got the wisdom after Congress has been running a yatra to save the Constitution. BJP has been rattled by Congress’s ‘Jai Bapu, Jai Bheem, Jai Samvidhan’ campaign, and the passion generated by Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, and that is why it is raking up Emergency 50 years after it has been forgotten byeverybody,” Kharge said.Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said party units have completed ‘Jai Samvidhan’ rallies in states and districts, and will take the nationwide campaign to constituency level over the coming two months.The EC too has become a “puppet” of Modi, which is behind BJP’s electoral successes, Kharge alleged. “You (Modi) have brought an undeclared emergency. The old Emergency is long gone. Even Indira Gandhi had supported the amendment to the Constitution (to remove the emergency provision) when moved by Morarji Desai,” he said, adding that apologies were also issued for it. “If today the Constitution is in danger, it is because of you (PM) and nobody else,” Kharge said.Kharge said the PM is witnessing the shredding of the Constitution in Manipur but is scared of visiting the state, and did not visit J&K after the Pahalgam terror attack.