President's Address Adds Fire To BJP's Emergency Offensive Against Congress

The Emergency imposed in 1975 was the darkest chapter of a direct attack on the Constitution, President Droupadi Murmu said today in her address to a joint sitting of Parliament. This is her first address to Parliament after the general election elected a new Lok Sabha.

The Constitution, she said, has stood up to every challenge and every test in the past decades. "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," she said, amid cheers from the treasury benches and protests by the Opposition. Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar echoed the President on the Emergency and said it had "attacked the Constitution".

The President's remark comes against the backdrop of a heated exchange between the ruling BJP and the Opposition on Emergency. While central ministers, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have stressed on the horrors of the Emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi government, the Congress and its allies have said an "undeclared emergency" is in the force over the past 10 years of Narendra Modi government.

The President's remarks also play out in the context of the Opposition's Constitution push. In demonstrations outside the House and proceedings inside it, Opposition MPs have been holding up copies of the Constitution and accusing the ruling party of undermining it.

"My Government also does not consider the Constitution of India as just a medium of governance; rather we are making efforts to ensure that our Constitution becomes a part of public consciousness," the President said in her address.

The President's address to Parliament is broadly a document that outlines the government's achievements and lays out is vision for the future. The address is essentially prepared by the government and is followed by a debate on the Motion of Thanks.

India, the President said, has become the fastest growing major economy in the world and has gone from the 11th spot in 2014 to the 5th in terms of the size of economy. She said the government is now focused on its goal of making India the third-largest economy. "The government is giving equal priority to all three arms: manufacturing, services and agriculture. India is becoming Atmanirbhar in every field at a rapid pace."

The President's address also touched upon the burning issue surrounding irregularities in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), an all-India exam for admission to medical courses.

The government, she said, is fully committed to investigating the recent incidents of paper leaks and ensure that the guilty are punished. As she made the remarks, cries of "NEET" were heard from the Opposition benches.

"Sanctity, transparency are a must in government recruitments and examinations. The government is committed to conduct fair investigation and ensure the most stringent punishment to those guilty in the recent incidents of paper leak," she said, adding that there is a need to rise above "partisan politics" and take strong steps on this issue.

Stressing on the need for the Parliament to run smoothly, she said opposition of policies and obstruction of parliamentary functioning are different.

"When Parliament conducts its business smoothly, when healthy deliberations take place here, when far-reaching decisions are taken, then the people repose confidence not only in the Government but also in the entire system. Therefore, I am confident that every moment of Parliament will be fully utilised and public interest will be given priority," she said.