The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhiwas not aware of the Constitutional provisions allowing for declaration ofEmergency that was imposed in 1975 and it was Siddartha Shankar Ray who led her into the decision, says President Pranab Mukherjee.
Ironically, it was Ray, then Chief Minister of West Bengal, who also took a sharp about-turn on the authorship of the Emergency before the Shah Commission that went into 'excesses' during that period, according to Mukherjee.
These details are revealed by the President in his book "The Dramatic Decade: the Indira Gandhi Years" that has just been released.
"It is believed that Siddartha Shankar Ray played an important role in the decision to declare the Emergency: It was his suggestion, and Indira Gandhi acted on it.
"In fact, Indira Gandhi told me subsequently that she was not even aware of the Constitutional Provisions allowing for the declaration of a state of Emergency on grounds of internal disturbance, particularly since a state of Emergency had already been proclaimed as a consequence of the Indo-Pak conflict in 1971," says Mukherjee in the book.
Interestingly, though not surprisingly, once it was declared, there were a whole host of people claiming authorship of idea of declaring the Emergency.
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