On June 25, 2025, while addressing an event to mark the 50th year since the Emergency, the RSS Sarkaryavah (General Secretary), Dattatreya Hosabale, said, “During Emergency, the country had no functioning Parliament, no rights, no judiciary. You put more than one lakh people in jail, kept more than 250 journalists in jail, violated fundamental rights, and forced 60 lakh Indians to undergo sterilisation. You ended the independence of judiciary. Have all the people who did this apologised to the country?”

Observing the day as ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’ since 2024, the BJP and RSS held events across the nation this year, reminding the public of the atrocities they faced under the Emergency imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, on June 25, 1975. Forced to go underground during the Emergency, RSS joined forces with the socialists to overthrow the Congress’ rule. In this piece, we look at how the RSS facilitated the formation of a coalition government, how it battled socialism with the Ram Mandir movement, which ended with the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.

Read | Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh: A look at its origins, ideology and rise (1925-1966)

Deoras’ rise and Emergency

During the Golwakar era, Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras, one of the RSS’ founding members, wielded considerable influence in shaping the organisation’s policies and expansion. However, having differed from Golwalkar on the RSS’ exclusion from politics, cow protectionism, and the organisation’s expansion, Deoras was briefly out of the Sangh. He rejoined in the RSS in 1957. Known to be an atheist, Deoras steered the RSS away from exclusionism by forming several community-based organisations such as a legal body, workers’ rights union, and education trusts. Under his tutelage, the RSS expanded its participation in social and service-based work in Indian society, reaping political dividends and building grassroot strength.

However, Jana Sangh and the RSS’ growing influence was halted with the imposition of a nationwide Emergency by the Indira Gandhi government on June 25, 1975. In his book, RSS: A Menace to India, Supreme Court lawyer A.G.