Takeaways from President Murmu address to Parliament
Addressing both Houses of Parliament in the first session after the recent Lok Sabha polls, President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday invoked the Emergency of 1975, calling it “the biggest and darkest chapter of direct attack on the Constitution”.
President Murmu’s reference to the Indira Gandhi-imposed Emergency in her first address to the joint sitting of the two Houses after the constitution of the 18th Lok Sabha reflected the deep faultline between the Narendra Modi-led NDA government and the principal Opposition Congress, which is likely to make the proceedings of Parliament stormy in the coming days.
It also signalled the Modi government 3.0’s intent to remain on the front foot in taking on the Congress despite the BJP’s tally coming under the majority mark in the Lok Sabha polls, which saw the Congress getting its tally nearly doubled.
The President also made a pointed reference to a major cause of concern for millions of people – alleged paper leaks and irregularities leading to cancellation of UGC-NET, postponement of CSIR UGC-NET and NEET PG, and some retests of NEET (UG) 2024. She said there would be a fair probe into such NEET and NET cases and that the guilty would be punished.
“In a few months, India is going to complete 75 years as a Republic. The Constitution of India has stood up to every challenge and every test in the past decades. Even when the Constitution was in the making, there were forces in the world who wished India to fail. Even after the Constitution came into force, it was attacked many times. Today is 27th June. The imposition of Emergency on 25th June, 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,” President Murmu said.