New Delhi: A day after Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s statement condemning the Emergency sparked an uproar from the Opposition, President Droupadi Murmu in her joint address to both the Houses of parliament described the imposition of Emergency as the “biggest and darkest chapter” of direct attack on the Constitution.
“Today is June 27. The imposition of Emergency on June 25, 1975 was the biggest and darkest chapter of direct attack on the Constitution. The entire country felt outraged. But the country emerged victorious over such unconstitutional forces as the traditions of the republic lie at the core of India,” Murmu said in her first address to the 18th Lok Sabha.
Since June 25, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been marking 50 years of the imposition of the Emergency with various programmes. The President’s address to both the Houses of parliament after the general elections essentially highlights government’s policies and programmes.
Murmu’s reference to the Emergency led to slogans being raised from the Opposition benches. Unlike in the came of Birla the previous day, Murmu did not name any political party. Naming the Congress, Birla said that the-then Congress government trampled democratic principles.
“Emergency was a dark period of our democracy. The then Congress government brought in laws and amendments to trample on citizens’ rights and democratic principles,” he said on Wednesday.
Following Murmu, vice president and Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankar too made a reference to the Emergency in his speech.
“The Constitution of India has stood up to every challenge in the past decades. Even after the Constitution came into force it was attacked many times. Today is June 27. Imposition of Emergency on June 25, 1975 was the biggest and darkest chapter of direct attack on the Constitution,” he said.
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President Murmu’s speech highlighted the Narendra Modi government’s policies while also touching on the controversial paper leaks in the ational Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and National Eligibility Test (NET) exams that have triggered widespread protests across the country.
“The government is committed to ensuring that the youth of the country get the opportunity to realise their full potential. Whether it is examinations or government jobs, these should not be stopped. My government is committed to provide a fair probe into paper leaks and ensure strict punishment to the guilty. We have seen such incidents in other states as well. We need to rise above partisan politics and work in the interest of the nation. The parliament has also passed a strict law against paper leaks,” she said.
While the Modi government fell short of a majority on its own in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and won 240 seats, down from 303 in 2019-in her address Murmu said that the people of the country had given a clear mandate to the BJP.
“The world can see Indians have for the third time formed a government with a stable and full mandate,” she said.
The Opposition Congress hit out at the Modi government saying that the President’s speech shows that the BJP is in denial.
Congress president and Rajya Sabha MP Mallikarjun Kharge said in a statement on X that the 2024 mandate was against Modi.
“Listening to the President’s address written by the Modi Govt, it seemed as if Modi ji is in a perpetual state of denial! The mandate was against him, because the people of the country rejected his slogan of “400 plus” and kept the BJP away from the figure of 272. Modi ji is unable to accept this, that is why he is pretending that nothing has changed, but the truth is that the people of the country had asked for change,” he wrote.
Kharge also said that the President’s address had “whitewashed” the concerns arising out of recent paper leaks and did not mention price rise, continued violence in Manipur, passenger train accidents, rising caste atrocities and terror incidents in Jammu and Kashmir.
‘Undeclared emergency’
Opposition MPs stated that while the BJP government has sought to highlight the Emergency in the President’s address, there is an undeclared emergency in place in the country.
“Looking at the circumstances in the country right now, an undeclared Emergency is in place. People from every section are troubled with paper leaks, youth don’t have jobs, farmers are stressed, rations are not being distributed. They are repeating the same things again and again. We will see things get worse in the next five years,” said Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh questioned why the BJP did not mention the Emergency in the last decade that it had been in power.
“Why was there no mention of Emergency for the past 10 years? The President should have mentioned in her speech how investigating agencies are being misused. You have put two Chief Ministers in jail. ED and CBI are being misused blatantly in the country,” Singh said speaking to news agency PTI.
Similarly, Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azaad said, “It is good that the President mentioned the Emergency period in her address, but what about the undeclared emergency in the country today? Who are the 80 crore people receiving free rations. In my constituency Nagina there are no employment opportunities.”
He added: “NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) data shows atrocities against women. But caste atrocities are rising.We had hoped the President would speak about all these issues, but the President didn’t. We will speak on these issues in the parliament in coming days.”
Independent MP Pappu Yadav said that the Emergency can be a party’s agenda but not the chair’s.
“The President’s address is actually the government’s address. Emergency can be a party’s agenda, a party can make it a political agenda. The ‘chair’ can’t be the agenda. The ‘chair’ can’t be of the BJP,” he said.