On the night of June 25, power supply to all of Delhi's newspaper offices was switched off so that there was no edition next day. Police arrested prominent opposition leaders including JP and Morarji Desai and sent them to jail.
People across India were being arrested and put into jail. A large number of people were arrested under MISA – Maintenance of Internal Security Act. The victims of MISA used to call it the Maintenance of Sanjay and Indira Act.
What was most disturbing was the fact that fundamental rights of the citizens were suspended and there was no judicial remedy available for unchecked arrest of common men and political opponents. Political rivals of Indira Gandhi were being arrested on flimsy grounds. A case in example was the arrest of Rajmatas of Gwalior and Jaipur who were arrested under an act supposedly meant for black-marketers and smugglers.
Sanjay Gandhi, the younger son of Indira, emerged as a parallel power centre. He had tremendous influence over her mother and was largely seen as the person who was instrumental in getting emergency imposed. Sanjay loved to boast of his control over his mother. In an interview to a magazine during emergency, Sanjay said,” Yes, My mother obviously listens to my views. She listened to me even when I was five years old.”
