Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on June 25 launched a fresh attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his frequent display of a pocket-sized Constitution booklet during public speeches, claiming that the very document contains references to the Emergency imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.

Addressing a programme marking the anniversary of the Emergency, Sarma said he had once been curious about the contents of the red Constitution booklet often carried by Rahul Gandhi during political rallies and public meetings.

"If you ever see Congress leader Rahul Gandhi giving a speech holding a red Constitution booklet, you should know that the same booklet mentions how Indira Gandhi killed the Constitution during the Emergency," Sarma said.

The Chief Minister claimed that during a visit to Delhi, he purchased a copy of the pocket-sized Constitution booklet from a bookshop to verify its contents.

"I had doubts about whether the booklet mentioned the actions of his own grandmother. Initially, I thought those who translated or published it might have omitted that chapter. But when I read the preface, I found that it clearly referred to how the Constitution was undermined during the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi in 1975," he said.

Sarma alleged that the Emergency represented one of the darkest periods in India's democratic history, during which constitutional values, democratic institutions and civil liberties came under severe strain.

The remarks came amid nationwide programmes organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to mark the 51st anniversary of the Emergency, observed by the party as a reminder of what it describes as an assault on democracy under the Congress government.

The Congress, however, has consistently defended its commitment to constitutional values and democratic institutions, while political exchanges between the BJP and the opposition over the legacy of the Emergency continue to remain a recurring theme in national politics.

The Emergency, imposed on June 25, 1975, remained in force for 21 months until March 1977 and continues to be a subject of political debate between the BJP and the Congress.