Soon after his election as Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla on Wednesday set off a storm by reading out a resolution condemning the imposition of Emergency as an attack on the Constitution by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi. On Thursday, President Murmu condemned Emergency in her Parliament Address.
The row over 1975 Emergency imposed by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi continued on the fourth day of Parliament session of 18th Lok Sabha with Congress on Thursday writing a letter to Speaker Om Birla voicing 'concern' and 'anguish' over the "travesty of Parliamentary traditions", referring to his remarks made on Wednesday and President Murmu also drawing flak for her reference to historic event in her speech.
On June 25, 1975, the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, imposed Emergency in the country, suspending civil liberties, jailing opposition leaders and dissidents and effecting press censorship.
Soon after his election as Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla on Wednesday set off a storm by reading out a resolution condemning the imposition of Emergency as an attack on the Constitution by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, an act that triggered vociferous protests by Congress member in the House.
While Congress members raised slogans against the Speaker's reference of Emergency, PM Modi lauded the same in a post on X while BJP MPs gathered in huge numbers on the footsteps of the Parliament building to protest against the suspension of civil liberties 49 years ago.
On Thursday, Congress General Secretary and MP KC Venugopal wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla saying it was “in the context of a very grave matter impacting upon the very credibility of institution of Parliament."
"Making of such a political reference from the Chair is unprecedented in the annals of history of Parliament... This coming from the Chair as one of the ‘first duties’ from a newly elected speaker assumes even graver proportions," the letter read.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also met Speaker Om Birla on Thursday and voiced his displeasure over the reference to Emergency made by the chair, saying it was "clearly political" and could have been avoided.
It was a courtesy call during which Gandhi also raised the issue of Emergency being invoked by the Speaker in the House, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal told reporters after the meeting in Parliament House. "It was a courtesy call. The Speaker declared Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of Opposition and after that he along with other INDIA alliance partner leaders met the Speaker," Venugopal was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Asked whether Rahul Gandhi discussed the issue of Emergency being raised in the House, Venugopal said, "We discussed so many things about Parliament functioning. Of course, this issue also came up."
Amid the ongoing row, which started on Monday with PM Modi's condemnation of 1975 Emergency, President Droupadi Murmu also on Thursday described the imposition of Emergency in 1975 as the "biggest and darkest chapter" of direct attack on the Constitution, and said the country emerged victorious over such unconstitutional forces.
Addressing a joint sitting of the Houses after the constitution of the 18th Lok Sabha, she said when the Constitution was being drafted, there were powers in the world who were hoping that India would fail.
Even after the Constitution came into force, there were several attacks on the Constitution, she noted. "Today is 27th June. 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," she said.
There were noisy protests by some opposition members when she referred to the Emergency in her address. However, she did not name any leader.
Opposition leaders on Thursday dismissed the President's address as a "script given by the government" that was "full of lies" and also castigated the government over the repeated mention of the 1975 Emergency. They said there is an "undeclared emergency" in the country and the Constitution is being attacked under the Modi government.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra said the President read out a "script given by the government" and that the BJP has not realised yet that it does not have a majority on its own.