Patna (Bihar) [India], June 29 : Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary on Sunday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi reflected on the country's "growth and development" during the 123rd episode of Mann ki Baat.
He mentioned that PM Modi remembered the significance of Yoga and the Emergency. Samrat Chaudhary stated that it is a "historic" day for Bihar, as those who once wondered about the technology of IT are now voting through email.
On June 28, Bihar became the first state to implement the e-voting feature, which enables citizens to cast their votes using a mobile app in municipal body elections and by-elections.
E-voting on 6 Nagar Panchayats and 36 municipal bodies were held in Bihar on June 28 till 1 pm whereas physical voting was conducted until 5 pm.
"In Mann Ki Baat, the PM Modi reflected on the country's growth and development, and especially recalled the significance of Yoga and the Emergency. I thank him for this... It is a historic day for Bihar too. Where people once wondered what IT is, they are now voting by email, with more than 70 per cent of the population participating. This is a historic day for Bihar", Samrat Chaudhary said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday during the 123rd episode of his monthly radio address 'Mann Ki Baat' condemned imposition of Emergency in the country and termed the period as one of the darkest chapters in India's democratic history.
He said that country is observing the 50th anniversary of the Emergency as "Samvidhan Hatya Diwas".
During his address to the nation, PM Modi played rare archival audio of former Prime Ministers Morarji Desai, Babu Jagjivan Ram and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who described the Emergency as a time of constitutional murder, mass arrests, and the suppression of civil liberties and press freedom.
The Prime Minister asserted that every citizen should remember the ones who fought "bravely" against the Emergency and it also inspires us to stay "vigilant" to "safeguard" the constitution.
PM Modi said, "Morarji Desai describes the Emergency in brief... Not only did those who imposed the Emergency murder democracy, but their intention was to keep the judiciary as their puppet... Under 'MISA', anyone was arrested arbitrarily, people were tortured... Indians refused to compromise on democracy. Finally, people won and the Emergency was lifted. Babu Jagjivan Ram powerfully about this..."
In the audio clip of Morarji Desai, the former Prime Minister is heard recounting the horrors of the Emergency.
Desai is heard saying in the clip played by PM Modi in his radio address, "When the Emergency was imposed, people were treated inhumanely. Their right to freedom was snatched away, newspapers were silenced, and the judiciary was rendered powerless. Over one lakh people were jailed. Such an arbitrary rule is rare even in world history."