Lok Sabha session likely to be stormy
Mr Birla took the Congress by surprise as he read out the resolution targetting the Congress party and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
New Delhi: Going by the confrontation and disagreements between the Treasury benches and the Opposition right at the start of the 18th Lok Sabha, it appears that the ongoing Parliament session is going to be a stormy one. The beginning of it was seen on Wednesday, when soon after his election as Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla kicked off a storm by reading out a resolution condemning the imposition of the Emergency as an attack on the Constitution by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, triggering vociferous protests by the Congress in the House.
Mr Birla took the Congress by surprise as he read out the resolution that targeted the Congress party and its former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Describing June 25, 1975, as a dark chapter in the history of India, Mr Birla said that on the day the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency in the country and launched a fierce attack on the Constitution written by Baba Saheb Ambedkar. He added that a dictatorship was imposed in the country by Indira Gandhi, India's democratic values were forgotten and freedom of expression was stifled.
Mr Birla said that during the Emergency, the rights of the citizens were destroyed and their freedoms were taken away. “This was the period when the Opposition leaders were incarcerated and the entire country was turned into a jail,” he added.
"As we enter the 50th year of the Emergency, this 18th Lok Sabha reiterates its commitment to uphold, protect and preserve the Constitution built by Baba Saheb Ambedkar…This House strongly condemns the decision to impose the Emergency in 1975. We appreciate the determination of all those people who opposed the Emergency, fought and fulfilled the responsibility of protecting India's democracy," he said as Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the Speaker's reference to the Emergency.
"The happenings during the Emergency exemplified what a dictatorship looks like," Mr Modi said. The House observed a two-minute silence, remembering the citizens of the country who were harmed during the Emergency.
The Congress members rose in protest and shouted slogans saying, “Save Manipur, save Neet, save students, save Constitution”. Later, they said the government, through the Speaker, is trying to distract people from the real issues.
Congress MP Jyoti Mani from Tamil Nadu went a step ahead and accused the government of promoting actress turned politician Kangana Ranaut’s upcoming film on Emergency through the Speaker’s podium.
“The resolution on the Emergency was not on the agenda. Mr Birla suddenly started reading out the resolution. They are trying to distract people from real issues. All along, the Congress and other Opposition parties have been criticising the government for trying to harm the Constitution. They are talking about the Emergency, which is a thing of the past, there is already an undeclared Emergency in India at present. The media is also not free,” said Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi outside the Parliament.
Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal said, "It was a great surprise for all of us the way in which the Speaker picked that subject. I think the government purposely wants this day to be disturbed... Our aim is to give a message to the country that the BJP is not for cooperation. The BJP is not going to carry the Opposition views. The BJP is not going to carry the general view of the public. We are successful in those things."
Later, after the House was adjourned, the NDA MPs, holding placards, held a protest in the Parliament Complex, raising slogans.
BJP MP from Begusarai and Union minister for textiles, Giriraj Singh said, “Many in the INDIA bloc have suffered during the Emergency. Mulayam Singh was jailed, Lalu Prasad Yadav was jailed. But it is surprising that neither Akhilesh Yadav nor Misa Bharti joined us to support the resolution… Never in the history of India was the Constitution trampled as it was during the Emergency..."
Responding, Mr Yadav said, “The Emergency is a thing of the past and the youth of today do not relate to it. People have moved on… Whatever the BJP has done today is just pretence. It wasn't just them who went to jail at that time (the Emergency)... How long will we look back at the past?"
Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda said, "The entire Opposition congratulated Om Birla after he was elected as Lok Sabha Speaker. However, soon after this, the government sounded a political bugle through the Speaker and the issue of the Emergency was raised..."
Defending Mr Birla, Union civil aviation minister and TDP leader Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said, "The Emergency is a black day for a democratic country like India... When the House was condemning the Emergency, then why was the Opposition, particularly the Congress, creating a ruckus? Do they want the Emergency to come back? Are they supporting the Emergency?"