BJP MPs hold placards during a protest against the Emergency, at Parliament House in New Delhi on Wednesday.  (Photo | ANI)
Nation

After Rahul-Modi handshake, House witnesses protests and adjournment as Speaker condemns Emergency

The Speaker's reference to the Emergency was met with triggering vociferous protests and sloganeering from the opposition.

TNIE online desk

The second day of the 18th Parliament session saw BJP's Om Birla being elected Speaker for the second term.

The Parliament witnessed a rare handshake between Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Opposition urged the Speaker to be impartial and allow the voice of people in the House.

Om Birla hoped that there would be criticism and disagreement in the House but no disruptions.

In his address to the House, the Speaker said there must remain a difference between protest in the sansad (House) and protest on sadak (street).

Thereafter, he asked the members to rise for two minutes' silence to mark the 50th anniversary of the "dark days of Emergency". This sparked an uproar from the Opposition benches leading to the adjournment of the House.

The Speaker's reference to the Emergency was met with vociferous protests and sloganeering from the opposition.

"This House strongly condemns the decision to impose Emergency in 1975. We appreciate the determination of all those people who opposed the Emergency, fought and fulfilled the responsibility of protecting India's democracy," Om Birla said amid vehement protests by the Opposition, India Today reported.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "I am glad that the Honourable Speaker strongly condemned the Emergency, highlighted the excesses committed during that time and also mentioned the manner in which democracy was strangled. It was also a wonderful gesture to stand in silence in honour of all those who suffered during those days."

On the Speaker's Emergency remark, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said it is "unfortunate" that the Speaker ended up undermining the spirit of consensus by a "divisive" statement. "This was not necessary. It was 49 years ago. If you have to go to such lengths on a day on which the message was to be one of cooperation and consensus, that's unfortunate," he was quoted as saying by the NDTV.

Mamata calls SIR 'huge scam,' vowes to gherao EC office in Delhi if legitimate voter names deleted from final rolls

India says it is now fourth-largest economy after Japan, but per capita GDP trails peers

Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh’s first female PM and archrival of Hasina, dies at 80

DGCA Director of Operations divested of crucial charge after TNIE exposed his malpractice

11 arrested in Assam, Tripura over alleged links with 'Bangladesh-based fundamentalist groups'

SCROLL FOR NEXT