Emergency biggest attack on Constitution: Murmu at joint session of Parliament

President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday (June 27) described the imposition of Emergency in 1975 as the “biggest and darkest chapter” of direct attack on the Constitution.

Addressing the joint session of Parliament, Murmu said the country emerged victorious over such unconstitutional forces. There were noisy protests by some Opposition members when she referred to the Emergency in her address.

Cautioning against disruptive forces conspiring to weaken democracy and create fissures in society, President Murmu said new ways and means were needed to address this challenge.

‘Need to curb disruptive forces’

“In this era of communication revolution, disruptive forces are conspiring to weaken democracy and create fissures in the society. These forces are present within the country and are also operating from outside the country,” she said.

Murmu said such disruptive forces resort to rumour-mongering, misleading the people. “This situation cannot be allowed to continue unchecked,” she said, adding that India has expressed concern over misuse of technology against humanity at global forums.

Budget to have futuristic vision

She said many historic steps and major economic decisions will be taken in the upcoming budget. “The budget that will be presented by the government in the next Parliament session will be a document of its futuristic vision,” the President said in her first address to the joint sitting of Parliament after the constitution of the 18th Lok Sabha.

“The budget will have major economic and social decisions and many historic steps will be taken. The speed of reforms will be increased to fulfil the aspirations of people,” she said.

She said her government believes there should be healthy competition between states for investment. “This is in the spirit of competitive-cooperative federalism,” she added.

Murmu further said, “India has become the world's fifth-largest economy. There has been an average 8 per cent growth in the last 10 years, even though these were not normal times.”

“This growth rate has been achieved despite a global pandemic and conflicts in different parts of the world. This is the result of the reforms of the last 10 years. India alone is contributing 15 per cent to global growth. My government is working to make India the world's third-largest economy,” she said.

Stresses smooth conduct of House

Opposing policies and obstructing Parliament are two different things, said Murmu apparently referring to the logjams between the government and the Opposition.

She said making India a developed nation is the aspiration and resolve of every citizen of the country and no obstacle should come in the way of fulfilling their aspirations.

“Opposition of policies and obstruction of parliamentary functioning are two different things. When Parliament conducts its business smoothly, healthy deliberations take place here, and far-reaching decisions are taken, then the people repose confidence not only in the government but also in the entire system,” she said.

“Therefore, I am confident that every moment of Parliament will be fully utilised and public interest will be given priority,” she said.

Opposition set to corner govt

Following the President's address, the ruling party will move a motion of thanks in both Houses of the Parliament which will be debated by members.

Prime Minister Modi is likely to reply to the debate on the motion of thanks on July 2-3.

A resurgent Opposition is expected to corner the government on a range of issues such as NEET-UG irregularities, cancellation of UGC-NET, terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, train accidents in the country, and rising prices of essential commodities.

In the recently held general elections, the ruling BJP-led NDA retained power for a third consecutive term by winning 293 seats, much below expectations of the BJP which was hoping for over 400 seats for the ruling alliance.

The Opposition emerged stronger in the elections with the INDIA bloc winning 233 seats, which include 98 of the Congress, almost double of the 52 seats it had won in 2019.

(With agency inputs)