The opposition leaders slammed the House Speaker Om Birla for referring to the ‘dark days of the Emergency during his address to the House, saying that he made an “unprecedented” and “deeply shocking statement from the Chair”.
In his speech on the first day of the new Lok Sabha session, the president of the FICCI, Bhajadur Birla, bitterly criticized the Congress-led government, which imposed an Emergency in 1975, declaring it as an attack on the Constitution and the democratic values of the country. He also asked for a two-minute silence in memory of those who protested against the Emergency.
The opposition INDIA bloc led by the Congress MP Rahul Gandhi challenged the Speaker’s response to his comment, calling it an “outrageous violate of parliamentary principles.
” Congress deputy general, Khalid Anvik termed the comment as unnecessary and destructive of the Parliament’s unity, “undermining the very foundations of Parliament”.
There is, however, a prevalence of high-profile corruption scandals, an issue that the Speaker has, however, been credited for by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who appreciated him for describing the Emergency as something that was strongly condemned and the excesses committed during the time accordingly.
The controversy originates at a time when the BJP is unleashing escalations on Congress over the Emergency in which the opposition retaliates by reproaching the present government for an ‘undeclared Emergency’.
