President's 'Emergency" Address Triggers Congress vs Government Showdown

The first big formal event of the 18th Lok Sabha is over. President Draupadi Murmu addressed the joint session of Parliament. Adding fire to the BJP's offensive against Congress on Emergency, the President said that the imposition of Emergency on June 25, 1975, was the biggest and darkest chapter of the direct attack on the Constitution. "The entire country felt outraged," she said. The President's remark comes against the backdrop of a heated exchange between the ruling BJP and the Opposition on Emergency and the Opposition registering its protest with the Speaker over his resolution moved yesterday.